Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Sells 2,936 Shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) by 76.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 889 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,936 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Shell were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in Shell by 41.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 68,954 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,548,000 after purchasing an additional 20,212 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shell by 45.1% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 245,769 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $16,209,000 after buying an additional 76,333 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Shell by 0.4% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 58,644 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,868,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services boosted its holdings in Shell by 38.4% in the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 775 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Shell by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,595 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Performance

NYSE SHEL opened at $65.49 on Thursday. Shell plc has a 12-month low of $60.34 and a 12-month high of $74.61. The company has a market cap of $203.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Shell Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.688 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. Shell’s payout ratio is 56.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Shell from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Shell in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Shell to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Shell to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Shell to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

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.