Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,307 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 151,863,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,801,457,000 after purchasing an additional 395,218 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,194,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,777,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,064 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 16.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,160,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,652,589,000 after purchasing an additional 146,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 3.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 29,197,557 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,422,538,000 after purchasing an additional 949,875 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

NYSE:XOM opened at $112.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.31. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52-week low of $102.88 and a 52-week high of $126.34. The firm has a market cap of $492.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $108.60 and its 200 day moving average is $114.52.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,989,570. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Exxon Mobil

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.