Aspire Private Capital LLC Lowers Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Aspire Private Capital LLC lowered its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 54.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 673 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $27,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,748,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,556,000 after buying an additional 1,238,734 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Unilever by 6.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,293,000 after acquiring an additional 515,088 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 4,657.3% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 431,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,302,000 after purchasing an additional 422,230 shares during the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management lifted its position in Unilever by 13.1% during the third quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,512,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,122,000 after purchasing an additional 290,690 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Unilever by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,215,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,903,000 after purchasing an additional 247,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on UL shares. Morgan Stanley cut Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

Unilever Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UL traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $48.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,002,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,796,947. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.52. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $46.16 and a 52-week high of $55.99.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.4582 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%.

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.