Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 224,252 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 178% compared to the typical daily volume of 80,538 call options.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $121.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $534.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.90. Exxon Mobil has a twelve month low of $95.77 and a twelve month high of $126.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.34. 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 (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Exxon Mobil will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 49.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on XOM shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Exxon Mobil from $157.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XOM. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,684 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil in the first quarter valued at approximately $933,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 925,591 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $107,591,000 after buying an additional 49,083 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 395,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,918,000 after buying an additional 20,691 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 875,088 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $101,720,000 after acquiring an additional 47,897 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.