Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,827,329 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 55,618 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil makes up approximately 0.9% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $1,258,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on XOM. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $114.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $124.00 price target (down previously from $146.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.82.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $114.81 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $95.77 and a 12-month high of $123.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $452.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by ($0.13). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 9.62%. The firm had revenue of $83.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.83 earnings per share. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.01, for a total transaction of $288,718.26. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,018,450.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.