Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,682 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Unilever were worth $6,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Unilever by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,465,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,095,000 after buying an additional 1,173,298 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 6,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 9,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Unilever during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Potentia Wealth acquired a new stake in Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at $783,000. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Unilever Trading Up 0.9 %

Unilever stock opened at $59.18 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87. The stock has a market cap of $146.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.61 and a 200-day moving average of $59.25.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.01%.

About Unilever

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.