Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 669,475 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 122,419 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Shell were worth $41,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Shell by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.10.

Shell Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $62.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $188.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.47. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.97%.

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.