Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Cuts Stock Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 230,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 11,830 shares during the quarter. Exxon Mobil accounts for 1.7% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $24,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the second quarter worth $35,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE XOM traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $106.35. The company had a trading volume of 6,960,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,221,010. Exxon Mobil Co. has a twelve month low of $95.77 and a twelve month high of $126.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $467.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 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, sell-side analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 49.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $149.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.74.

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.