Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Has $4.04 Million Stock Holdings in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 918.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,438 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 58,114 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Shell were worth $4,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Shell during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Shell in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Shell during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 28.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SHEL shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Shell from $82.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Shell from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Shell in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Shell from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised 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, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.48.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE:SHEL opened at $72.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.29 and its 200-day moving average is $66.28. The stock has a market cap of $217.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. Shell plc has a 1-year low of $60.15 and a 1-year high of $74.61. 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 (NYSE:SHEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The energy company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.54). Shell had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Shell plc will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.716 dividend. This is a boost from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.97%.

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.