Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 2,523 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,576 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,523 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth about $91,716,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Shell in the fourth quarter worth about $407,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Shell by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 51,077 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $774,000. Finally, Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its position in shares of Shell by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 43,463 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,723,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SHEL. Morgan Stanley raised 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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 reduced their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Shell presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.11.

Shell Stock Performance

SHEL stock opened at $66.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.45. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.15 and a 12-month high of $74.61. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.97%.

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.