Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Buys Shares of 343,895 Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL)

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 343,895 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,628,000. Shell makes up about 1.7% of Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Shell in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Sepio Capital LP grew its stake in Shell by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 4,490 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC raised its position in Shell by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 119,557 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,867,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new position in shares of Shell in the 4th quarter valued at about $358,000. Finally, Team Hewins LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shell during the fourth quarter worth approximately $769,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Shell Stock Performance

SHEL traded up $0.45 on Friday, reaching $70.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,352,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,957,527. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Shell plc has a 1 year low of $55.78 and a 1 year high of $74.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.63.

Shell (NYSE:SHEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $74.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.03 billion. Shell had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 5.83%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Shell plc will post 8.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Shell Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.688 dividend. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Shell’s dividend payout ratio is 50.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SHEL has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Shell from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised Shell from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.