Cerity Partners LLC Has $4.67 Million Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,377 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,540 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $4,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at $181,854,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at $169,744,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 1,869.4% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,519,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442,059 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 35.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,748,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Unilever by 29.4% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,793,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,844,000 after purchasing an additional 861,988 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unilever Trading Down 0.5 %

Unilever stock opened at $46.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.57. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $46.16 and a 52-week high of $55.99.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.4582 per share. This represents a $1.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UL. StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley lowered Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

Unilever Company 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.