Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,990 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 5,932 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Shell in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Shell in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Shell during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shell by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Shell stock opened at $66.75 on Thursday. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week high of $74.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.00. The firm has a market cap of $204.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted 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 research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SHEL. 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.11.

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.