First Merchants Corp Raises Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

First Merchants Corp grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Vertex Planning Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,989,570. This trade represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM stock opened at $108.17 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. The firm has a market cap of $475.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.89. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $100.60 and a 12-month high of $126.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.70.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $117.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.25.

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.