Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 163,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,271,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unilever during the fourth quarter worth $296,000. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its position in Unilever by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company's stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,117 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,193,000 after purchasing an additional 9,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 45,387 shares of the company's stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 11,555 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised shares of Unilever from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.50.

Unilever Stock Down 0.0 %

UL traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,025,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,526,227. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.44. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $53.50 and a twelve month high of $65.87. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $60.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.88.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.5151 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Unilever's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Unilever's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.03%.

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.