Ellevest Inc. Sells 1,223 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Ellevest Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,223 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $1,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UL. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Unilever by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Unilever by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,906,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,317,000 after buying an additional 257,538 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,103,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,345,000 after acquiring an additional 250,053 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Unilever by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,830,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,191,000 after purchasing an additional 327,329 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Unilever by 140.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,719,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,883,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170,242 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on UL shares. UBS Group raised Unilever from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Unilever has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

Unilever Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE UL opened at $62.60 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $53.04 and a 12 month high of $65.87. The stock has a market cap of $154.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.89.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.5151 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.03%.

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.