Valmark Advisers Inc. Decreases Position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

Valmark Advisers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Diageo were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Diageo by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 217 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new position in Diageo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $264,000. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in Diageo by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 1,354,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,327,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Diageo by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 153,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,317,000 after buying an additional 37,842 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in Diageo by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 9,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DEO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus lowered Diageo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BNP Paribas lowered Diageo from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Diageo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3,797.50.

Diageo Stock Performance

NYSE:DEO opened at $138.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.02. Diageo plc has a 12-month low of $135.63 and a 12-month high of $189.54.

Diageo Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th.

Diageo Profile

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.