Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Stock Position Decreased by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,971 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,798 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SHEL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Shell by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Shell by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Shell by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 14,937 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,560 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 266.1% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 122,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 88,700 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Shell stock opened at $65.01 on Friday. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $58.55 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.31 and its 200-day moving average is $66.12.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Shell’s payout ratio is 56.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHEL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.73.

Shell Company Profile

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.