Synovus Financial Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM - Free Report) by 78.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 671,376 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 295,988 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil makes up about 0.9% of Synovus Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $78,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 37,297 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $4,294,000 after buying an additional 2,564 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 10.7% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 47,195 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,532,000 after acquiring an additional 4,578 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 5.9% in the second quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,751 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Exxon Mobil by 79.4% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 859,226 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $98,914,000 after purchasing an additional 380,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 967,618 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $111,392,000 after purchasing an additional 379,747 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM stock traded down $0.93 on Friday, hitting $110.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,093,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,275,436. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1 year low of $95.77 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a market cap of $487.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.40.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.99 dividend. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on XOM. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Exxon Mobil from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.84.

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.