Fmr LLC Purchases 21,118,234 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Fmr LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 32.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 86,417,177 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,118,234 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $5,414,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SHEL. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Shell by 930.2% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shell by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of Shell stock opened at $64.13 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.53. Shell plc has a twelve month low of $60.15 and a twelve month high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (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%. Analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.10.

Shell 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.