Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Stock Position Lessened by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,280,199 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 82,910 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Shell were worth $80,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of 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 shares of Shell from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $79.11.

Shell Stock Down 0.3 %

SHEL traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.16. 2,934,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,173,529. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.15 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.42 and a 200 day moving average of $67.00. The firm has a market cap of $205.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 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 (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. Analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.78%.

About Shell

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.