Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR $SHEL Shares Bought by Apexium Financial LP

Key Points

• Apexium Financial LP significantly increased its stake in Shell PLC by 97.2%, owning 16,030 shares valued at $1.175 million after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including GQG Partners LLC and Nuveen LLC, have made substantial adjustments to their holdings in Shell, indicating a growing interest in the stock.
• Shell announced a quarterly dividend of $0.716 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%, alongside a $3.50 billion stock buyback plan to repurchase up to 1.8% of its outstanding shares.

Apexium Financial LP boosted its position in Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 97.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,030 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Apexium Financial LP's holdings in Shell were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Shell by 2.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 23,272,913 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,705,430,000 after buying an additional 451,233 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Shell by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,253,238 shares of the energy company's stock worth $531,519,000 after purchasing an additional 352,569 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Shell by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,571,809 shares of the energy company's stock worth $481,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,198 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 0.4% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,592,218 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $263,238,000 after purchasing an additional 15,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Shell by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 3,463,372 shares of the energy company's stock worth $216,980,000 after buying an additional 2,182,253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company's stock.

Shell Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of SHEL traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,963,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,608,212. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $71.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.76. The company has a market cap of $217.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.44. Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR has a 1-year low of $58.54 and a 1-year high of $74.18.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $66.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.31 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 4.93%. Equities research analysts expect that Shell PLC Unsponsored ADR will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.716 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Shell's dividend payout ratio is 64.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Shell from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and set a $78.30 target price (down previously from $78.90) on shares of Shell in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.71.

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.