Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Down 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shares fell 3.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $149.88 and last traded at $150.1560. 29,588,725 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 21,528,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XOM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $123.00 price objective on Exxon Mobil in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.59.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $633.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $127.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.25.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $82.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.The company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 3,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.18, for a total transaction of $481,851.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,036,409.72. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 14,230 shares of company stock worth $1,888,421 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,625,063,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 150.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,602,601 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $819,560,000 after acquiring an additional 4,563,707 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 200.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,014,446 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $217,162,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015,099 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 10,809.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,095,106 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $333,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,066,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,366,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660,910 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.