Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Invests $99,000 in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 8,104,301 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Diageo by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,242,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,671,000 after purchasing an additional 437,646 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Diageo by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,254,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,042,000 after purchasing an additional 147,920 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Diageo by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,116,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,759,000 after purchasing an additional 229,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Diageo by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 991,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,141,000 after purchasing an additional 64,367 shares during the last quarter. 8.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DEO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Diageo from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.00.

Diageo Stock Down 1.9 %

Diageo stock opened at $108.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $60.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.65. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $114.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.90.

Diageo Announces Dividend

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

About Diageo

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.