Boston Research & Management Inc. Purchases 290 Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Boston Research & Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil comprises approximately 1.4% of Boston Research & Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $5,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter worth $6,936,737,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Exxon Mobil by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,731,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538,694 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Exxon Mobil by 1,524.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,445,922 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $585,818,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110,603 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 13,899.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,812 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875,320 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,989,570. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on XOM. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.05.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of XOM stock opened at $117.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1 year low of $103.67 and a 1 year high of $126.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $510.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.83.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.51%.

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.