Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Increases Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 389,363 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,122 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $41,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,099,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 76,067 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,731,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538,694 shares during the period. EdgeRock Capital LLC grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 4,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hendley & Co. Inc. grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Hendley & Co. Inc. now owns 19,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on XOM shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $123.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $149.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. HSBC dropped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Exxon Mobil from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.25.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $110.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.89. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52 week low of $104.00 and a 52 week high of $126.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 12.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares in the company, valued at $1,989,570. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exxon Mobil Profile

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.