Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 31.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,454,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378,517 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Unilever in the fourth quarter worth about $176,806,000. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,008,000 after purchasing an additional 207,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,169,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,993,000 after purchasing an additional 36,922 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UL. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Unilever from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Unilever in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.33.

Unilever Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UL opened at $59.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $56.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.76. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.46 and a 1-year high of $65.87.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio is 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.