Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Buys New Stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UL. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter valued at $176,806,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 981.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,076,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,216 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 493.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,105,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,785,000 after purchasing an additional 918,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 7,466.0% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 629,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,897,000 after purchasing an additional 621,248 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on UL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Unilever has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of UL opened at $59.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. Unilever PLC has a 12-month low of $46.46 and a 12-month high of $65.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.81.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

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.