Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Stock Price Down 2% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) traded down 2% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $158.00 to $156.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Exxon Mobil traded as low as $138.06 and last traded at $138.51. 27,718,637 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 20,182,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $141.40.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total transaction of $351,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 28,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,349,758.96. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 968.0% during the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 267 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 2.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $584.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $123.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $82.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is 61.58%.

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.