Vident Advisory LLC Sells 2,902 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Vident Advisory LLC decreased its position in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,395 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,902 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $2,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Shell by 930.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Shell stock opened at $66.38 on Thursday. 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 plc has a 12-month low of $58.55 and a 12-month high of $74.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.87. The company has a market cap of $199.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.38.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last issued 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. Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The company had revenue of $69.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Shell Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.716 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 65.90%.

Shell declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy company to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Shell in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Shell currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.35.

Shell 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.