Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Down 1.9% – Time to Sell?

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) shares were down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $115.29 and last traded at $115.46. Approximately 3,098,077 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 16,155,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on XOM shares. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.95.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $502.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.89.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is presently 49.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 14.5% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,757 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC now owns 65,941 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,591,000 after buying an additional 2,716 shares during the period. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.8% during the second quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 22,928 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.5% during the second quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.7% during the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 218,828 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,569 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

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.