Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL - Free Report) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,966 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 58,016 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Shell were worth $8,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Shell by 930.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of SHEL stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,616,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,315,597. The company has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $74.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.18 billion. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.716 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Shell's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shell currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $77.35.

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.