Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 45,124 Shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation $XOM

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 318,099 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,124 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $35,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the first quarter valued at about $305,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Castellan Group grew its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.9% during the second quarter. Castellan Group now owns 26,470 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverbend Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on XOM shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.59.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM opened at $148.47 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Exxon Mobil Corporation has a 12-month low of $97.80 and a 12-month high of $156.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.91 and a 200-day moving average of $119.08. The stock has a market cap of $626.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.39.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.08. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.The business had revenue of $82.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.58%.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 3,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.18, for a total value of $481,851.40. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 20,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,036,409.72. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,230 shares of company stock worth $1,888,421. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.