Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires 95,037 Shares of Diageo plc $DEO

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Diageo plc by 9.8% during the first quarter, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $112 million.
• Diageo has received a revised rating from Goldman Sachs, upgrading it from "sell" to "neutral," while the consensus rating remains a "Hold" with a price target of $129.00.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $2.5192 per share, representing a yield of 370%, with the payment scheduled for December 4th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,069,567 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 95,037 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Diageo worth $112,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 234.4% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,600,702 shares of the company's stock worth $330,627,000 after buying an additional 1,822,994 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,540,800 shares of the company's stock worth $195,883,000 after buying an additional 3,876 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 3.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,441,300 shares of the company's stock worth $151,034,000 after buying an additional 42,740 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 0.7% in the first quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,184,987 shares of the company's stock worth $124,175,000 after buying an additional 8,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 649,769 shares of the company's stock worth $82,605,000 after buying an additional 185,282 shares in the last quarter. 8.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Diageo from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has 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 $129.00.

Diageo Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:DEO traded up $0.9830 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $115.3830. The company had a trading volume of 1,065,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,557,562. The company has a market capitalization of $64.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.80. Diageo plc has a 52 week low of $96.45 and a 52 week high of $142.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a $2.5192 dividend. This represents a yield of 370.0%. This is an increase from Diageo's previous semi-annual dividend of $1.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Diageo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.55%.

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.