Safeguard Financial LLC Reduces Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Safeguard Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,701 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on XOM shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank raised Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BNP Paribas cut Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Exxon Mobil from $149.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $109.68 on Wednesday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a fifty-two week low of $95.77 and a fifty-two week high of $126.34. The stock has a market cap of $482.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.12 and a 200-day moving average of $115.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is currently 49.32%.

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.