Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Shares Sold by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,539 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 3,495 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $5,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 151,863,649 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $17,801,457,000 after purchasing an additional 395,218 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,194,981 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $10,777,735,000 after buying an additional 1,622,064 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 valued at $3,719,296,000 after acquiring an additional 5,235,607 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,936,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,415,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,160,117 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,652,589,000 after acquiring an additional 146,374 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on XOM. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Exxon Mobil from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $149.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

XOM stock traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $112.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,228,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,346,318. The stock has a market cap of $493.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50 day moving average is $112.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.51. Exxon Mobil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $95.77 and a fifty-two week high of $126.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Exxon Mobil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.32%.

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.