Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Increases Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL - Free Report) by 113.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,067 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,220 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Unilever were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,940,963 shares of the company's stock worth $1,017,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,563 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,454,686 shares of the company's stock worth $195,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378,517 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Unilever in the 4th quarter worth about $176,806,000. Hamlin Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Unilever by 7.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in Unilever by 1.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.67% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

UL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Unilever from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Unilever in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Unilever from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.33.

Unilever Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UL traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.29. 3,701,549 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,526,956. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $46.46 and a 1 year high of $65.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.69 and a 200 day moving average of $59.81.

Unilever Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.4674 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Unilever's payout ratio is currently 53.01%.

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.