Welch Group LLC Acquires 4,271 Shares of ExxonMobil Corporation $XOM

Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 548,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,271 shares during the quarter. ExxonMobil comprises 2.5% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in ExxonMobil were worth $65,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of ExxonMobil by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,026,019 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,963,934,000 after purchasing an additional 445,283 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of ExxonMobil by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,366,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660,910 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in ExxonMobil by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,620,927 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,790,773,000 after buying an additional 127,466 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ExxonMobil by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,194,493 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,517,179,000 after buying an additional 340,785 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in ExxonMobil by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,396,334 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,299,687,000 after buying an additional 886,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on ExxonMobil from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on ExxonMobil from $172.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane set a $165.00 price target on ExxonMobil and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ExxonMobil from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on ExxonMobil from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ExxonMobil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.15.

ExxonMobil Stock Performance

XOM stock opened at $147.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $613.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $154.92 and a 200-day moving average of $133.13. ExxonMobil Corporation has a 12-month low of $101.18 and a 12-month high of $176.41.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $80.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.98 billion. ExxonMobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.ExxonMobil’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ExxonMobil Corporation will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

ExxonMobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. ExxonMobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.75, for a total value of $698,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,295,864. This represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 11,460 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,854 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.