Exxon Mobil Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 224,252 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 178% compared to the typical daily volume of 80,538 call options.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XOM. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 918.9% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 377 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI raised Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank upgraded Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $121.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.95.

Exxon Mobil Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:XOM traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $121.50. The company had a trading volume of 15,094,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,337,976. The company has a market capitalization of $534.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.34. Exxon Mobil has a 52 week low of $95.77 and a 52 week high of $126.34. 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 released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.32%.

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.