Ballentine Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,905 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 8,266 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $5,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 388,543,396 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $38,846,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter valued at $5,519,753,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 2.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,828,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,329,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,937 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,988,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,198,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084,458 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 18,388,299 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,838,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,226 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC increased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays started coverage on Exxon Mobil in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $147.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $150.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.71.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

NYSE XOM traded up $1.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $112.52. 1,829,699 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,239,984. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.17. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1 year low of $95.77 and a 1 year high of $123.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $443.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.92.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.13). Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.62% and a return on equity of 16.75%. The firm had revenue of $83.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 46.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,426 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total value of $288,718.26. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,363 shares in the company, valued at $3,018,450.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.