Exxon Mobil Corporation $XOM is Franklin Resources Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 2,660,910 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil makes up approximately 1.1% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $4,366,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the second quarter worth about $6,163,719,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 150.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,602,601 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $819,560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,563,707 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 200.7% in 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 buying an additional 4,015,099 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 10,809.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,095,106 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $333,652,000 after buying an additional 3,066,736 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 119.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,672,359 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $301,310,000 after buying an additional 1,454,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 5,000 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.75, for a total transaction of $698,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,295,864. This trade represents a 17.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,380 shares of company stock valued at $2,227,734. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Exxon Mobil News

Here are the key news stories impacting Exxon Mobil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board recommends redomiciling from New Jersey to Texas — management says the move aligns legal domicile with HQ, could give Exxon a more business‑friendly corporate environment and strengthen defenses vs. activists, which investors view as governance positive. ExxonMobil Board Unanimously Recommends Redomiciling the Company from New Jersey to Texas
• Positive Sentiment: Higher oil prices and low‑cost Permian/Guyana production supporting margins — analysts note WTI near $90–$100 raises cash flow to fund projects and buybacks, bolstering Exxon’s longer‑term earnings potential. Is ExxonMobil Poised to Gain From Current Elevation in Crude Prices?
• Positive Sentiment: Operational agility — Exxon began shipping gasoline from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Australia and is weighing a return to Venezuela, actions that show flexibility to capture margins amid global supply disruption. Exxon Mobil Shifts Supply Routes As Investors Weigh Valuation And Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Large drop in short interest in February — short positions fell ~18.8% to ~48.4M shares, reducing immediate short‑squeeze risk and potentially removing a source of selling pressure. (Short interest data entry)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and raised targets — brokers have kept favorable stances (UBS buy maintained; BofA lifted a price target), giving institutional endorsement for the rally’s continuation. Exxon Mobil: Buy Rating on Undervalued Recovery in Chemicals
• Neutral Sentiment: Surge in options activity — elevated options volume points to heavy positioning/speculation around XOM, which can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous for direction. Spotlight on Exxon Mobil: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑term pullback from oil easing — oil prices fell after comments raising hopes of de‑escalation, triggering sector rotation and profit‑taking after XOM’s ~40% rally; that drag and broader energy weakness are pressuring the stock today. Oil Prices Dive as Trump Gives Hope on Iran War. These Big Risks Remain for Crude.
• Negative Sentiment: Sector/market headwinds and sentiment cooling — energy ETF and sector indexes slipped and retail sentiment on social platforms has cooled from February peaks, contributing to near‑term selling pressure despite solid fundamentals. Sector Update: Energy Stocks Decline Tuesday Afternoon

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.41.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 1.6%

XOM opened at $148.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Exxon Mobil Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.80 and a 52 week high of $159.60. The stock has a market cap of $617.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $140.03 and a 200-day moving average of $123.88.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.58%.

Exxon Mobil Company Profile

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.