Virtu Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Virtu Financial LLC lessened its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 94.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,559 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 73,589 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHEL. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Shell by 248.9% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 19,258 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 13,739 shares in the last quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Shell by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 25,139 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palogic Value Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Shell by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 75,602 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,736,000 after buying an additional 15,120 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $73.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is 56.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SHEL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Shell from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Securities increased their target price on Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.10.

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.