Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 50.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,505 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UL. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,363,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,005,545,000 after acquiring an additional 331,498 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,548,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,293,000 after acquiring an additional 515,088 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Unilever by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,042,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,988,000 after acquiring an additional 28,870 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Unilever by 35.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Unilever by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,252,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,663,000 after buying an additional 70,737 shares in the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of Unilever stock opened at $46.48 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.57. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $46.16 and a 1 year high of $55.99.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of 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 report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

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.