Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 37.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,448 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 11,567 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Shell were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 65,298,943 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,306,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,255,347 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Shell by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,530,647 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,617,796,000 after acquiring an additional 507,311 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Shell by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,972,945 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $408,430,000 after acquiring an additional 55,637 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Shell by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,282,868 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $348,405,000 after acquiring an additional 422,329 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Shell by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,773,617 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $248,870,000 after acquiring an additional 866,954 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. UBS Group upgraded Shell from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.11.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL traded down $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.61. 2,422,771 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,092,564. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.85. The company has a market cap of $205.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.15 and a 12-month high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell's dividend 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.