Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 11,800 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,710 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 11,800 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Shell were worth $3,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SHEL. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. boosted its stake in Shell by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Shell by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,393 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 5,526 shares of the energy company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Shell by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Shell by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Shell to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.35.

Shell Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE SHEL traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.24. The stock had a trading volume of 3,432,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,298,025. The company has a market capitalization of $197.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38. Shell plc has a 12 month low of $58.55 and a 12 month high of $74.46. The company's 50-day moving average price is $66.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.81. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.30. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The business had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.