Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Acquires 262 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,582 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever in the first quarter worth $684,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 23.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,141,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,312,000 after acquiring an additional 214,635 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Unilever by 16.9% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,180,000 after purchasing an additional 15,941 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Unilever by 249.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,748,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,136 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 248.3% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,599,000 after buying an additional 36,909 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on UL. Bank of America upgraded Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Unilever to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Unilever presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of UL stock opened at $59.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.00. Unilever PLC has a 52-week low of $46.46 and a 52-week high of $65.87.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.4755 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th.

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.