Diageo (NYSE:DEO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $102.14, but opened at $88.36. Diageo shares last traded at $86.1520, with a volume of 2,771,511 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DEO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Diageo in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $124.00 price target on shares of Diageo and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Diageo from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Friday, November 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.50.

Diageo Trading Up 4.7%

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.51 and its 200 day moving average is $95.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Institutional Trading of Diageo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DEO. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Diageo in the 4th quarter valued at about $118,000. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 46,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,976,000 after acquiring an additional 21,853 shares during the period. Van Diest Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Diageo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Diageo by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 308,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,646,000 after acquiring an additional 98,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Diageo by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

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.