Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $121.67 and last traded at $121.66. 4,129,507 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 16,229,261 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on XOM. TD Cowen upped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.21.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $535.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.54.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released 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 during 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%. Exxon Mobil’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.27 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.32%.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 360.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 918.9% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 377 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.