Jennison Associates LLC Takes $8.04 Million Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 165,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,038,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Unilever by 6.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,293,000 after purchasing an additional 515,088 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,238,734 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 1.8% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,819,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,664,000 after buying an additional 67,190 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 2.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,454,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,654,000 after buying an additional 72,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Unilever by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 3,332,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,582,000 after buying an additional 47,256 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on UL. Morgan Stanley cut Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Unilever presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Unilever Price Performance

UL stock opened at $51.24 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a twelve month low of $46.16 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.11 and its 200-day moving average is $48.56.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4556 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th.

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.