Palisade Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $5,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centric Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 24,495 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 13,352 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 22,009 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Exxon Mobil by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 124,905 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,488,000 after acquiring an additional 8,911 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 131,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,159,000 after acquiring an additional 22,405 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 168,099 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,807,000 after acquiring an additional 4,777 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $288,718.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,018,450.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $288,718.26. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,018,450.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,845. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Exxon Mobil stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $116.16. 18,507,047 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,732,555. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $458.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.96. Exxon Mobil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $95.77 and a fifty-two week high of $123.75.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.13). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 9.62%. The firm had revenue of $83.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.83 EPS. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XOM has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $150.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 5th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.18.

About Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.