Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Stock Holdings Lowered by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 37.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,448 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 11,567 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shell in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Shell in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Shell during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Shell by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:SHEL opened at $67.16 on Friday. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $60.15 and a 1-year high of $74.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.93.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SHEL shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.11.

About Shell

Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure to deliver gas to market.