Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,652,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 56,336 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Exxon Mobil worth $715,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in XOM. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 7,761.0% during 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 buying an additional 6,805,982 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1,524.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,445,922 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $585,818,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110,603 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 168.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,530,457 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $531,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,842,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 11,131.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,792,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $192,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,848 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,989,570. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.1 %

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $110.30 on Thursday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $102.64 and a fifty-two week high of $126.34. The company has a market cap of $484.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.53.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.51%.

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.