Argent Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Argent Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 700,118 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 15,040 shares during the quarter. Exxon Mobil comprises approximately 2.3% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $82,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the second quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 37,297 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after buying an additional 2,564 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.9% in the second quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,751 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,770,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 79.4% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 859,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $98,914,000 after buying an additional 380,399 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 64.6% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 967,618 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $111,392,000 after purchasing an additional 379,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 2.8% in the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 135,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $15,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE XOM opened at $119.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $471.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.89. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $95.77 and a 12-month high of $126.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.51.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.10. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $93.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on XOM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.44.

Exxon Mobil Company Profile

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.