Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Shell (NYSE:SHEL)

Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 30,798 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 337% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,051 call options.

Shell Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHEL opened at $72.64 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.01 and its 200 day moving average is $66.13. The company has a market cap of $233.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Shell has a twelve month low of $55.78 and a twelve month high of $73.94.

Shell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.688 per share. This is an increase from Shell’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Shell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shell

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Shell by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,532 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Shell by 29.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,087,703 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,872,666,000 after acquiring an additional 6,554,340 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Shell by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 109,843 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,228,000 after acquiring an additional 6,138 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Shell by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 633,287 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $40,771,000 after purchasing an additional 62,792 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Shell by 16.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 71,350 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,594,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SHEL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Shell from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Shell from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Shell from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note 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.com, Shell presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.