Sapient Capital LLC Has $603,000 Stock Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its stake in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 25.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,018 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,166 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Unilever were worth $603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Unilever by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,494,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,672,275,000 after buying an additional 1,114,417 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Unilever by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,843,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,716,000 after purchasing an additional 965,173 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Unilever by 6.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Unilever by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,548,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,459,000 after purchasing an additional 329,705 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $234,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.67% of the company’s stock.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of Unilever stock traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, reaching $51.87. 3,005,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,896,179. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.14 and its 200-day moving average is $48.61. Unilever PLC has a one year low of $46.16 and a one year high of $55.77. The firm has a market cap of $129.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4556 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Unilever’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Unilever from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Unilever Company 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.