Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Stake Raised by Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,302 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 18,658 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil makes up about 3.4% of Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $7,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in XOM. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,684 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the first quarter worth approximately $933,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 1st quarter valued at $891,000. Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 821,902 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $95,538,000 after purchasing an additional 11,795 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 29,677 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,450,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XOM has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank raised Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.95.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $121.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.36. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52-week low of $95.77 and a 52-week high of $126.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The company had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.99 dividend. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.32%.

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.