William Blair Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,258 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Unilever by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,454,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378,517 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Unilever in the fourth quarter worth approximately $176,806,000. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unilever by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,008,000 after purchasing an additional 207,549 shares during the period. Finally, Equity Investment Corp raised its position in Unilever by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,169,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,993,000 after purchasing an additional 36,922 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE UL opened at $58.91 on Thursday. Unilever PLC has a 52 week low of $46.46 and a 52 week high of $65.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.57. The firm has a market cap of $146.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s payout ratio is presently 53.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UL has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

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.