Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)’s share price dropped 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $111.13 and last traded at $111.50. Approximately 4,536,211 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 14,047,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on XOM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $490.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $112.40 and its 200 day moving average is $115.50.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. Exxon Mobil’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 7,761.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,893,677 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $808,077,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805,982 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,719,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,235,607 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after buying an additional 4,415,012 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 117.5% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 7,668,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $882,795,000 after buying an additional 4,142,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 168.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,530,457 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $531,060,000 after buying an additional 2,842,844 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Exxon Mobil

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.