Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Holdings in Exxon Mobil Corporation $XOM

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel LLC has reduced its stake in Exxon Mobil Corporation by 40.4%, holding 3,354 shares after selling 2,275 shares during the second quarter, valuing its holdings at $362,000.
• Despite this decrease from Sterling Investment Counsel, other investors such as Journey Strategic Wealth LLC and Jones Financial Companies have increased their holdings in Exxon Mobil, indicating varied investor sentiment.
• Exxon Mobil's earnings report shows a net margin of 9.17% and a total revenue of $81.51 billion, which is below analyst expectations yet reflects a significant market capitalization of $482.81 billion.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM - Free Report) by 40.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,354 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 2,275 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 21,929 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 52.3% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 382,989 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $45,149,000 after purchasing an additional 131,600 shares during the period. Legacy Trust increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 12.7% in the first quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 8,861 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 51.8% in the first quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 7,665 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares during the period. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 97,050 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $11,561,000 after buying an additional 18,752 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total value of $238,351.10. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 13,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,527,413.05. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $127.00 price objective on Exxon Mobil and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Melius started coverage on Exxon Mobil in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.00.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE XOM opened at $113.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.15 and a 200-day moving average of $109.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.51. Exxon Mobil Corporation has a 12 month low of $97.80 and a 12 month high of $126.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.17. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $81.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 earnings per share. Exxon Mobil's revenue for the quarter was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Exxon Mobil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.25%.

Exxon Mobil Company 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.

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