Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 719 Shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 719 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $1,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Unilever by 1.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,363,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,005,545,000 after buying an additional 331,498 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Unilever by 6.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,293,000 after buying an additional 515,088 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Unilever by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,042,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,988,000 after buying an additional 28,870 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Unilever by 35.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,748,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,556,000 after buying an additional 1,238,734 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Unilever by 1.7% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,252,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,663,000 after buying an additional 70,737 shares during the period. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on UL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

Unilever Trading Down 1.9 %

UL opened at $46.76 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.16 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.61.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.4582 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%.

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.