Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,675,600 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 218,004 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Shell worth $167,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Shell by 930.2% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Shell during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:SHEL traded down $1.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.37. 2,338,980 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,306,713. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.94. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $58.55 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.716 per share. This is a positive change from Shell's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. Shell's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised Shell from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Shell from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $77.73.

Shell Company 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.