Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Stake Raised by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 800,000 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Shell were worth $50,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Shell by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in Shell by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Titleist Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Shell by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the energy company's stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company's stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Shell from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group upgraded Shell from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Shell currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $77.73.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of SHEL stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $66.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,709,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,315,372. 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 50-day simple moving average of $67.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. Shell plc has a twelve month low of $58.55 and a twelve month high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. This is an increase from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Shell's payout ratio is 56.97%.

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.