Rhumbline Advisers Sells 1,428 Shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its stake in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Diageo were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Diageo by 4.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 158,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,234,000 after buying an additional 6,617 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Diageo by 88,407.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Diageo by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 65,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,248,000 after acquiring an additional 16,285 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Diageo by 9.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Tevis Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Diageo by 159.7% during the 4th quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 13,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 8,528 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DEO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Diageo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Diageo Stock Down 1.2 %

DEO opened at $112.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Diageo plc has a twelve month low of $105.72 and a twelve month high of $151.76. The company has a market cap of $62.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.40.

Diageo Dividend Announcement

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

Diageo 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.