Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 11,800 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,710 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 11,800 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Shell were worth $33,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Shell by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 86,417,177 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,414,036,000 after purchasing an additional 21,118,234 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth about $91,716,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,938,735 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,562,412,000 after acquiring an additional 408,088 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Shell by 236.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 445,422 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,906,000 after acquiring an additional 313,018 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Shell by 16,663.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 307,440 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $19,261,000 after purchasing an additional 305,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SHEL shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.10.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of Shell stock opened at $64.13 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Shell plc has a one year low of $58.92 and a one year high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

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.