HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Diageo plc $DEO

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,825 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,273 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Diageo were worth $7,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Diageo during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Diageo by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC boosted its holdings in Diageo by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 5,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in Diageo by 84.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Diageo by 0.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 180,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on DEO. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Diageo in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Diageo from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $124.00 price objective on Diageo and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.50.

Diageo Price Performance

Diageo stock opened at $100.32 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.02. Diageo plc has a 12-month low of $84.52 and a 12-month high of $116.69.

Diageo Profile

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.