Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) Shares Bought by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 592.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,070,818 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 916,246 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $60,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UL. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Unilever during the fourth quarter worth about $296,000. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Unilever by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Unilever by 155.2% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 8,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 5,117 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Unilever by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,193,000 after buying an additional 9,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Unilever by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 45,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,573,000 after acquiring an additional 11,555 shares during the last quarter. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on UL shares. DZ Bank upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Unilever from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unilever from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

Unilever Stock Performance

UL opened at $62.55 on Friday. Unilever PLC has a 1 year low of $53.39 and a 1 year high of $65.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.44.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.5151 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This is a boost from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Unilever’s payout ratio is currently 59.03%.

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.