Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Diageo plc $DEO

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,028 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Diageo were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Diageo by 3.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,441,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,034,000 after acquiring an additional 42,740 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Diageo by 14.0% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,350,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,217,000 after acquiring an additional 165,839 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Diageo by 9.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,069,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,080,000 after acquiring an additional 95,037 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Diageo by 2.2% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 434,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,556,000 after acquiring an additional 9,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Diageo by 11.7% during the second quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 419,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,281,000 after acquiring an additional 44,011 shares during the last quarter. 8.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Diageo from $117.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Diageo in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diageo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.00.

Diageo Price Performance

DEO stock opened at $95.89 on Wednesday. Diageo plc has a 1 year low of $93.42 and a 1 year high of $139.96. The company has a market cap of $53.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.49 and a 200 day moving average of $106.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Diageo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.5192 per share. This is a positive change from Diageo’s previous semi-annual dividend of $1.62. This represents a dividend yield of 370.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Diageo’s payout ratio is 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.