Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,353 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 950 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Shell were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on SHEL shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Shell from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.73.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of Shell stock opened at $62.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.20. The company has a market cap of $187.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. Shell plc has a one year low of $58.55 and a one year high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.