Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. cut its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,548 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Shell in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Shell during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 40.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SHEL opened at $67.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35. Shell plc has a one year low of $60.15 and a one year high of $74.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.89. The company has a market capitalization of $205.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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