Sanctuary Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,484 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 384 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $10,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $67.87 on Wednesday. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $60.15 and a 52 week high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.85. 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 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%. On average, analysts expect that Shell plc will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on SHEL shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell presently 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.