Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Down 0.3% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) dropped 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $117.43 and last traded at $117.66. Approximately 11,068,147 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 16,278,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Exxon Mobil from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised Exxon Mobil to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Exxon Mobil from $157.00 to $149.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Exxon Mobil in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.95.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $517.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 5.04 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.57.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil's payout ratio is 49.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XOM. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 16.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,936,929,000 after buying an additional 4,415,012 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 671,376 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $78,699,000 after acquiring an additional 295,988 shares in the last quarter. Castellan Group increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 90.5% in the 3rd quarter. Castellan Group now owns 23,085 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 10,970 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 6,130 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 90.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 380,693 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $44,625,000 after purchasing an additional 180,684 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.