Bard Financial Services Inc. Cuts Position in Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL)

Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) by 21.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,690 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,760 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Unilever were worth $2,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Unilever by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Unilever by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 59,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Unilever by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,452,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,419,000 after purchasing an additional 90,245 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unilever by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 65,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 9,040 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new position in Unilever in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. 9.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on UL shares. Bank of America upgraded Unilever from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Unilever in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised Unilever to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Unilever from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Unilever from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Unilever currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.75.

Unilever Price Performance

UL traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $62.84. 1,320,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,714,313. Unilever PLC has a 12 month low of $46.16 and a 12 month high of $65.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.77.

Unilever Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.4773 per share. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This is a positive change from Unilever’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46.

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.