Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Shares Bought by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp grew its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,120 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $3,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 2,778 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 9,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 13,378 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 14,537 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 16,207 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $231,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,989,570. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on XOM. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM opened at $108.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $475.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $108.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $100.60 and a 12-month high of $126.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 12.92%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is presently 50.51%.

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.