Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Down 0.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) dropped 0.9% during trading on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $149.00 to $147.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Exxon Mobil traded as low as $110.25 and last traded at $110.76. Approximately 3,277,603 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 16,255,218 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.82.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on XOM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $128.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 6,951 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 12,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.2% during the second quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 24,220 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,788,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $119.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $487.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.32%.

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.