Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 1,717 Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,367 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 532.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,815,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,935,779,000 after purchasing an additional 14,158,054 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the second quarter valued at $980,210,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 25.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,511,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,197,989,000 after buying an additional 5,523,429 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,794,077 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,235,972,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,719,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,235,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $119.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $471.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.89. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1 year low of $95.77 and a 1 year high of $126.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.09 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 9.73%. Exxon Mobil’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $121.00 to $117.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. BNP Paribas lowered Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $157.00 to $149.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.44.

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.