Marathon Asset Management Ltd Reduces Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 71,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,352 shares during the quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $35,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,632,000 after purchasing an additional 225,370 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its position in S&P Global by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $534.09 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $513.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $510.95. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.39 billion, a PE ratio of 43.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 31.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.23.

About S&P Global

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.