Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,383 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,705 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,383 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $6,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Shell by 217.7% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 413 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Shell by 611.1% in the 4th quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Shell by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 495 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in Shell in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc grew its stake in Shell by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 789 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shell Stock Performance

Shares of Shell stock traded down $0.15 on Wednesday, reaching $71.16. 2,800,184 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,200,259. Shell plc has a 52 week low of $59.51 and a 52 week high of $74.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.47 and a 200 day moving average of $68.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.59.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.51. Shell had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The company had revenue of $74.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.03 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.688 per share. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Shell’s payout ratio is presently 50.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHEL has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities upped their target price on Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Shell in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Shell from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Shell from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Shell from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.40.

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.