Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 33.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,064 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UL. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,293,000 after buying an additional 515,088 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Unilever by 35.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,748,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,734 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Unilever by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,819,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,664,000 after acquiring an additional 67,190 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Unilever by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,454,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,654,000 after purchasing an additional 72,277 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 3,332,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,582,000 after purchasing an additional 47,256 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UL. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE:UL opened at $51.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.59. Unilever PLC has a fifty-two week low of $46.16 and a fifty-two week high of $55.77.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.4556 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.83%.

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.