Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 80,404 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 10,097 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC's holdings in Shell were worth $5,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Shell by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the energy company's stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Shell by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,168 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,078,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shell by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 199,856 shares of the energy company's stock worth $12,521,000 after buying an additional 14,937 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 29,560 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 266.1% in the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 122,030 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 88,700 shares in the last quarter. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SHEL. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Shell from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen began coverage on Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.10.

Shell Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of SHEL traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.31. The company had a trading volume of 14,906,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,223,650. The stock has a market cap of $188.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.47. Shell plc has a fifty-two week low of $60.15 and a fifty-two week high of $74.61.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. This is a boost from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Shell's payout ratio is 56.97%.

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.