Financial Counselors Inc. Boosts Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 597,403 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 8,400 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil comprises 0.9% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $64,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of XOM. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter valued at $718,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter valued at about $688,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. BG Investment Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter worth about $311,000. Finally, Momentous Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter valued at about $347,000. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XOM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.15.

Exxon Mobil Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE XOM opened at $116.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.61. Exxon Mobil Co. has a one year low of $103.67 and a one year high of $126.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $505.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.83.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.51%.

Insider Transactions at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,989,570. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.