Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Up 1% – Still a Buy?

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $112.74 and last traded at $112.38. Approximately 6,638,398 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 13,759,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $149.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.56 and a 200 day moving average of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $493.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.91.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is currently 49.32%.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 4.9% during the second quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter valued at $860,000. Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,093,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 453,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $52,245,000 after buying an additional 23,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 9.3% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 623,264 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,750,000 after buying an additional 53,046 shares during the period. 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.