Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Up 1.8% – Here’s Why

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s stock price traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $163.75 and last traded at $163.5120. 15,491,055 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 22,680,502 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Loop Capital set a $123.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.39.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 1.8%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $681.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.29.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $80.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.The company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.58%.

Insider Transactions at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 1,080 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.50, for a total transaction of $167,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 17,124 shares in the company, valued at $2,662,782. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 11,460 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,854 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,625,063,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 200.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,014,446 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $217,162,000 after purchasing an additional 4,015,099 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,366,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660,910 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 218.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,380,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $155,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,997,332 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,925,119,000 after buying an additional 2,465,410 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.