Evolution Advisers Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UL. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $234,556,000 after buying an additional 1,238,734 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Unilever by 6.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,293,000 after purchasing an additional 515,088 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Unilever by 4,657.3% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 431,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,302,000 after purchasing an additional 422,230 shares during the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management lifted its stake in Unilever by 13.1% during the third quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,512,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,122,000 after purchasing an additional 290,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Unilever by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,215,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,903,000 after purchasing an additional 247,004 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Unilever Stock Performance

NYSE:UL traded up $2.85 on Thursday, reaching $50.92. 6,764,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,871,935. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.10 and its 200-day moving average is $48.53. Unilever PLC has a 1-year low of $46.16 and a 1-year high of $55.99.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.4582 per share. This represents a $1.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd.

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.