Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in ExxonMobil Corporation $XOM

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group increased its ExxonMobil stake by 17% in the fourth quarter, adding 22,925 shares to bring its total holdings to 157,931 shares worth about $19.0 million.
• Several other institutional investors also raised their XOM positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 61.8% of ExxonMobil’s shares.
• ExxonMobil reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.16 topping estimates and revenue of $83.16 billion, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $163.95.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 157,931 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,925 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in ExxonMobil were worth $19,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XOM. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,366,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660,910 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil by 218.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,380,899 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $155,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,791 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,925,026 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $329,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501,235 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil by 119.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,672,359 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $301,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454,308 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,396,334 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,299,687,000 after purchasing an additional 886,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ExxonMobil

In other ExxonMobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 1,080 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.50, for a total value of $167,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,662,782. This represents a 5.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on XOM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on ExxonMobil from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on ExxonMobil from $171.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on ExxonMobil from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on ExxonMobil from $178.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on ExxonMobil from $128.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ExxonMobil has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.95.

ExxonMobil Price Performance

XOM opened at $154.82 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $155.82 and a 200 day moving average of $139.41. ExxonMobil Corporation has a 52-week low of $101.18 and a 52-week high of $176.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $641.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.19.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.18. ExxonMobil had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 7.57%.The company had revenue of $83.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. ExxonMobil's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ExxonMobil Corporation will post 11.49 EPS for the current year.

ExxonMobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. ExxonMobil's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.48%.

ExxonMobil Profile

ExxonMobil Corporation NYSE: XOM is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XOM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.