ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $8,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XOM. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 19.2% during the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 19,528 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 3.6% during the second quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,521 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 12.5% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 47,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,442,000 after purchasing an additional 5,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,015 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of XOM opened at $109.46 on Thursday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1-year low of $96.73 and a 1-year high of $126.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $112.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 49.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

XOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.84.

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.