Unilever PLC $UL Shares Sold by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC cut its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,119 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $6,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Unilever by 9.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,665,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,973,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935,227 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Unilever by 13,906.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,268,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252,105 shares during the last quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in Unilever during the 3rd quarter worth $82,461,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 4.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,537,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,336,048,000 after buying an additional 959,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 78.8% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,933,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,261,000 after buying an additional 852,099 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Unilever Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:UL opened at $55.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.94. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $54.95 and a 1-year high of $74.97.

Unilever (NYSE:UL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($1.00). The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.39 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Unilever PLC will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.5547 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on UL shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Argus upgraded Unilever to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Unilever in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Unilever from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.55.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC is a global consumer goods company with roots dating back to the early 20th century, formed from the merger of the British firm Lever Brothers and the Dutch company Margarine Unie. The company develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded products in personal care, home care and foods and refreshments. Unilever’s corporate structure and listings reflect its long history in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and it operates at scale across diverse consumer markets worldwide.

Unilever’s business is organized around major product categories—Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care and Foods & Refreshment—and includes numerous well-known consumer brands across those categories.