Merit Financial Group LLC Decreases Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM - Free Report) by 31.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,626 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 37,389 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $8,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter valued at $116,000. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC now owns 10,401 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Solutions 4 Wealth Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter worth about $267,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 480.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 427,380 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,729,000 after purchasing an additional 353,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XOM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.06.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $116.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,021,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,548,303. The company has a market capitalization of $457.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company's fifty day moving average price is $114.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.92. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52-week low of $95.77 and a 52-week high of $123.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.13). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $83.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.83 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Exxon Mobil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,426 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $288,718.26. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,018,450.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,845. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,426 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $288,718.26. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,018,450.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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