Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Stock Position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,663 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,388 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Diageo were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,031,465,000 after purchasing an additional 8,104,301 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 9.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,242,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,671,000 after purchasing an additional 437,646 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 25.9% during 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 6.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 991,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,141,000 after purchasing an additional 64,367 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Diageo during the fourth quarter worth about $123,892,000. 8.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DEO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Diageo from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.00.

Diageo Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DEO opened at $107.09 on Monday. Diageo plc has a fifty-two week low of $105.23 and a fifty-two week high of $149.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.64. The company has a market capitalization of $59.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Diageo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Diageo’s dividend payout ratio is 46.42%.

About Diageo

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.