Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $136.94 and last traded at $134.99, with a volume of 1480595 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Exxon Mobil from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.84.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 0.5%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.29. The company has a market capitalization of $566.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.16. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 8.99%.The company had revenue of $83.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.88%.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $351,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 28,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,758.96. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 65,926 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,934,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 98,786 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,888,000 after buying an additional 18,689 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 49,856 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,000,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 41,791 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 104,082 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391 shares during the period. 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.