Griffin Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,389 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,746 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $9,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,161,783 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,249,607,000 after buying an additional 2,676,652 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 11.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,312,338 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,640,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,080,716 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,794,077 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,235,972,000 after acquiring an additional 5,330,887 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,719,296,000 after acquiring an additional 5,235,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,511,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,197,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,523,429 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on XOM shares. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XOM opened at $120.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $474.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.89. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1-year low of $95.77 and a 1-year high of $126.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.10. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $93.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

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.