Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) shares rose 0.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $108.54 and last traded at $108.42. Approximately 2,928,695 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 14,617,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XOM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group cut 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $477.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $111.14 and its 200 day moving average is $115.38.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.99 dividend. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. 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 3.65%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is presently 49.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XOM. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the third quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% 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.