Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Shares Sold by Royal Fund Management LLC

Royal Fund Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,071 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,707 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of XOM. FMR LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the third 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 stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,194,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,777,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,064 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,719,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,235,607 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Exxon Mobil by 16.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,160,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,652,589,000 after buying an additional 146,374 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

NYSE:XOM opened at $109.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.07 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 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. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $96.73 and a 12-month high of $126.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $112.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.48.

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

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on XOM shares. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 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.