Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Stock Position Lessened by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 94.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,559 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 73,589 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 4,028 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Shell by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,125,284 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $206,116,000 after purchasing an additional 46,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Shell by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,521,000 after buying an additional 14,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

NYSE SHEL opened at $73.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $221.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.38. Shell plc has a fifty-two week low of $60.15 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced 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 return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. On average, analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is 56.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities lifted their price target on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Shell from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.10.

Shell 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.