Wells Fargo & Company MN Decreases Stock Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Wells Fargo & Company MN cut its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,757,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 134,954 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.19% of Unilever worth $269,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in Unilever during the fourth quarter valued at about $296,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 155.2% in the fourth 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. boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,193,000 after acquiring an additional 9,528 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 43,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 6,404 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Trading Down 3.8 %

Unilever stock opened at $60.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.42. Unilever PLC has a 12-month low of $46.46 and a 12-month high of $65.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.08.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the 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.

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.