Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 59,753 Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,367,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 59,753 shares during the quarter. Exxon Mobil comprises 0.5% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.05% of Exxon Mobil worth $256,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in XOM. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 151,863,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,801,457,000 after buying an additional 395,218 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Exxon Mobil by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,194,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,777,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622,064 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,731,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,538,694 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,860,532 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,427,237,000 after purchasing an additional 700,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in 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. Argus raised Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of XOM stock opened at $113.79 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.47 and a 200 day moving average of $113.60. Exxon Mobil Co. has a twelve month low of $103.67 and a twelve month high of $126.34. The stock has a market cap of $493.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.83.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exxon Mobil

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

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.