Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 4,371 Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 59,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,371 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $6,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 151,863,649 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,801,457,000 after buying an additional 395,218 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 92,194,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,777,735,000 after buying an additional 1,622,064 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,731,263,000 after buying an additional 5,538,694 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,860,532 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,427,237,000 after buying an additional 700,415 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after buying an additional 4,415,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,989,570. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on XOM shares. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $123.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.15.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Shares of XOM stock opened at $115.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $109.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.83. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52-week low of $103.67 and a 52-week high of $126.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 12.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.51%.

Exxon Mobil 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.