Private Management Group Inc. Buys Shares of 322,880 Diageo plc $DEO

Private Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 322,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,855,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DEO. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in Diageo by 236.6% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,157,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,772,000 after buying an additional 813,973 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Diageo by 48.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,701,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,410,000 after buying an additional 555,509 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Diageo in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,763,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Diageo by 2,282.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 438,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,303,000 after buying an additional 419,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Diageo by 118.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 685,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,104,000 after buying an additional 371,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on DEO shares. Argus raised shares of Diageo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Diageo from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Diageo in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Diageo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Diageo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.50.

Diageo Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of DEO opened at $81.27 on Friday. Diageo plc has a 1 year low of $72.45 and a 1 year 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.26.

Diageo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 195.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th.

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.