Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Down 0.7% – What’s Next?

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) shares traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $119.37 and last traded at $119.45. 2,280,801 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 16,434,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on XOM shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $146.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.44.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $471.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $93.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.09 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 9.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 45.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XOM. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 532.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,815,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,935,779,000 after buying an additional 14,158,054 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the second quarter worth $980,210,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7,761.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,893,677 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $808,077,000 after acquiring an additional 6,805,982 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,511,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,197,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,523,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,794,077 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,235,972,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

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.