Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $6.68 Million Stock Holdings in Diageo plc $DEO

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 77,472 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,674 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diageo were worth $6,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DEO. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Diageo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,970,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 466,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,553,000 after buying an additional 36,156 shares during the last quarter. Third View Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diageo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,111,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Diageo by 90.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 132,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,690,000 after buying an additional 63,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Diageo by 95.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,928,000 after buying an additional 111,968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Diageo Stock Performance

NYSE DEO opened at $79.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.97. Diageo plc has a twelve month low of $72.45 and a twelve month high of $116.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Diageo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 195.0%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Diageo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Diageo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Diageo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Diageo from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.50.

About Diageo

Diageo plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in London, England. The company was created through the 1997 merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc and is publicly traded on multiple exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange. Diageo operates a worldwide business, selling products in a broad range of markets across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Diageo’s core activities cover the production, marketing and sale of a diverse portfolio of spirits, beer and liqueurs.