969 Shares in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Purchased by Bellwether Advisors LLC

Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 969 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,709,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $786,453,000 after acquiring an additional 521,932 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 50.5% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 3,619 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 3.0% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 43,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Exxon Mobil by 0.9% during the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,949 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares in the company, valued at $1,989,570. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM opened at $108.64 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.02. The company has a market capitalization of $469.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1 year low of $97.80 and a 1 year high of $126.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 12.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 EPS. Research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 50.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on XOM. Bernstein Bank increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Exxon Mobil from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.50.

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.