Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,837 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 12,074 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Shell were worth $4,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Shell by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 86,417,177 shares of the energy company's stock worth $5,414,036,000 after acquiring an additional 21,118,234 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shell by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,938,735 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,562,412,000 after purchasing an additional 408,088 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Shell by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,982,817 shares of the energy company's stock worth $500,123,000 after purchasing an additional 238,705 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Shell by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,023,173 shares of the energy company's stock worth $377,352,000 after acquiring an additional 50,228 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Shell by 170.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,463,372 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $216,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Price Performance

SHEL traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.97. 3,904,834 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,311,405. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.95. 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 company has a market capitalization of $212.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.39. Shell plc has a 52-week low of $58.55 and a 52-week high of $74.46.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Shell Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SHEL shares. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Friday, April 4th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Shell from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.26.

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.