Becker Capital Management Inc. Has $13.23 Million Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Becker Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,201 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 4,836 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $13,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Shell during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Shell during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shell Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SHEL opened at $65.52 on Wednesday. Shell plc has a 1 year low of $58.55 and a 1 year high of $74.61. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.94. The company has a market capitalization of $197.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.27.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.716 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Shell’s payout ratio is currently 56.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Shell from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised Shell from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.50 to $79.80 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. Scotiabank cut their target price 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, Barclays restated an “overweight” 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 two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.