Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) traded up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $111.48 and last traded at $111.18. 4,493,437 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 14,654,829 shares. The stock had previously closed at $110.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.53. The company has a market capitalization of $491.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.51%.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,989,570. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 151,863,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,801,457,000 after acquiring an additional 395,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,299,598 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,023,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,617 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter worth $6,936,737,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,017,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,950,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Exxon Mobil by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,731,263,000 after buying an additional 5,538,694 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.