Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Sells 2,388 Shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,663 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,388 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Diageo were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DEO. Canoe Financial LP increased its position in shares of Diageo by 88,407.3% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 8,113,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,465,000 after acquiring an additional 8,104,301 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Diageo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,892,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Diageo by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,242,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,671,000 after acquiring an additional 437,646 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Diageo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,777,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Diageo by 25.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,116,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,759,000 after purchasing an additional 229,946 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Diageo from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diageo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.00.

Diageo Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Diageo stock opened at $107.09 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.65. Diageo plc has a 1-year low of $105.23 and a 1-year high of $149.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Diageo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.42%.

Diageo Company Profile

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The company offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavored malt beverages. It also provides Chinese, Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as flavored malt beverages, ready to drink, and non-alcoholic products.