Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) Shares Sold by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,464 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 4,707 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $2,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SHEL. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Shell by 930.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SHEL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.35.

Shell Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of SHEL opened at $66.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.84. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $58.55 and a 1-year high of $74.61. The stock has a market cap of $199.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $69.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

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

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.