Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 46,876 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $2,937,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stolper Co grew its position in shares of Shell by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Stolper Co now owns 28,735 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,858 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Shell by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the energy company's stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Shell by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 66,911 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,192,000 after buying an additional 19,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter worth approximately $717,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised Shell from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Shell from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup raised Shell to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Shell currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $79.69.

Shell Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SHEL traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,486,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,512,029. Shell plc has a 1 year low of $60.15 and a 1 year high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock's 50 day moving average is $64.19 and its 200 day moving average is $67.86. The firm has a market cap of $205.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.55.

Shell Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.688 dividend. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Shell's payout ratio is currently 56.58%.

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.