Brokerages Set Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) Target Price at $128.50

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.50.

XOM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Melius began coverage on Exxon Mobil in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total value of $238,351.10. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 13,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,413.05. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,058,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,468,147,000 after buying an additional 1,111,231 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,307,931 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,345,132,000 after acquiring an additional 342,967 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the second quarter valued at about $6,163,719,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 46,598,313 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,023,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274,860 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 3.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,500,304 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,611,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126,912 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.7%

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $114.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $487.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.19. Exxon Mobil has a 12 month low of $97.80 and a 12 month high of $123.21.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $57.55 billion for the quarter. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 11.34%. On average, analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is currently 59.88%.

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.