QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 201,575 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,038 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $12,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Shell in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in Shell in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Shell in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $67.26 on Friday. 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 $60.15 and a 12 month high of $74.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.70. The company has a market cap of $204.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.716 dividend. This is a positive change from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is 56.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SHEL. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Shell from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Shell from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.11.

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.