Traders Buy High Volume of Exxon Mobil Call Options (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 88,162 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 26% compared to the typical volume of 70,225 call options.

Exxon Mobil Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Exxon Mobil stock opened at $117.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $499.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Exxon Mobil has a 1 year low of $97.80 and a 1 year high of $126.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.52.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $81.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.07 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Exxon Mobil will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is presently 56.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $134.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $127.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,158 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total value of $238,351.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 13,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,413.05. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 30,064 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,234,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter worth $1,966,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 147,054 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,489,000 after buying an additional 8,221 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.9% in the first quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 6,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 66.3% in the first quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 95,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,402,000 after buying an additional 38,222 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Company 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.