Exxon Mobil Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 91,933 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 12% compared to the average daily volume of 82,264 call options.

Exxon Mobil Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of XOM stock opened at $121.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $479.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.90. Exxon Mobil has a 12-month low of $95.77 and a 12-month high of $123.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.85.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.09 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 9.73%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 360.0% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Exxon Mobil during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 918.9% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 377 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on XOM. Mizuho raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.75.

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.