Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,709,202 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 521,932 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Exxon Mobil worth $786,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XOM. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,676,652 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,080,716 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,794,077 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,235,972,000 after buying an additional 5,330,887 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,719,296,000 after buying an additional 5,235,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 25.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,511,952 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,197,989,000 after acquiring an additional 5,523,429 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE XOM traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $121.38. 6,451,249 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,353,122. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52 week low of $95.77 and a 52 week high of $126.34. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $117.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.36. The company has a market cap of $478.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.90. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil's payout ratio is 47.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XOM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upgraded Exxon Mobil from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.95.

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.