Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 857,833 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,402 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $92,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on XOM shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $129.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.50.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $108.45 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $467.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.98. Exxon Mobil Co. has a twelve month low of $97.80 and a twelve month high of $126.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $83.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.11 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 12.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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 Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.52%.

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.