Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $2.22 Million Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,059 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,498 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $2,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Unilever by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Unilever by 155.2% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 5,117 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Unilever by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,193,000 after acquiring an additional 9,528 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Unilever during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,694,000. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its stake in Unilever by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 6,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on UL. Royal Bank of Canada cut Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $58.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $145.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.49. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.4674 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Unilever’s payout ratio is 53.01%.

Unilever Profile

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements.