Howard Capital Management Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on XOM shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $110.12 on Friday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52 week low of $97.74 and a 52 week high of $126.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $111.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.44.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 14.73%. 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 firm earned $2.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.32%.

Exxon Mobil 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.