Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 445,723 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $29,329,000. Shell comprises approximately 0.9% of Sapient Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 29.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,087,703 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,872,666,000 after buying an additional 6,554,340 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Shell by 96,141.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,370,746 shares of the energy company's stock worth $818,414,000 after buying an additional 14,355,814 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the first quarter worth approximately $677,739,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $658,071,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Shell during the first quarter valued at approximately $549,346,000. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Price Performance

NYSE:SHEL traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $72.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,996,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,732,082. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $65.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.20. Shell plc has a one year low of $55.78 and a one year high of $73.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The energy company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Shell had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $80.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.662 dividend. This represents a $2.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Shell's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SHEL. TheStreet upgraded Shell from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BNP Paribas cut Shell from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th.

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.