ExxonMobil Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:XOM)

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 280,373 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 277% compared to the typical volume of 74,444 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ExxonMobil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XOM. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of ExxonMobil in the first quarter worth $305,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in ExxonMobil by 1.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in ExxonMobil by 2.8% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 21,821 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in ExxonMobil by 17.4% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 36,710 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,443 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded ExxonMobil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of ExxonMobil in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of ExxonMobil in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $158.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of ExxonMobil from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of ExxonMobil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.29.

ExxonMobil Stock Performance

Shares of ExxonMobil stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $160.08. 7,968,815 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,224,613. ExxonMobil has a 1 year low of $105.67 and a 1 year high of $176.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $663.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $114.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.94 billion. ExxonMobil had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 8.88%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that ExxonMobil will post 11.86 EPS for the current year.

ExxonMobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. ExxonMobil’s payout ratio is presently 53.02%.

ExxonMobil Company Profile

ExxonMobil 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.