ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Break Above Fifty Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.21 and traded as high as $170.92. ExxonMobil shares last traded at $169.7750, with a volume of 12,218,319 shares traded.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on XOM. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on ExxonMobil from $185.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. DZ Bank downgraded ExxonMobil from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of ExxonMobil from $199.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of ExxonMobil from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $160.00) on shares of ExxonMobil in a research note on Monday, September 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ExxonMobil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.54.

Recent ExxonMobil Headlines

Investors following XOM have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Elevated crude prices are a potential tailwind for ExxonMobil’s upstream business. Reports cited oil above $85 per barrel, while Brent rose about 3% to nearly $96 amid Iran-related tensions—supportive of revenue from producing assets such as the Permian and Guyana. Article: Oil Price is Still High: Boon for ExxonMobil’s Upstream Business?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company signed a non-binding agreement to evaluate seven areas in Venezuela for possible oil and gas projects. This offers potential longer-term opportunity, but no development commitment or production benefit is established yet. Article: Exxon assessing 7 areas in Venezuela for possible energy projects
• Negative Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein lowered its price target to $186 from $193, although it maintained an “outperform” rating. Separately, ETFs were net sellers of XOM, a modest potential source of near-term pressure. Article: Sanford C. Bernstein stock recommendations Article: ETFs Are Net Sellers of ExxonMobil

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ExxonMobil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in ExxonMobil by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,933,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,197,181,000 after purchasing an additional 465,409 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in ExxonMobil by 5.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,364,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,812,790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540,902 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of ExxonMobil by 5.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 24,511,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,158,563,000 after buying an additional 1,192,386 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of ExxonMobil by 153.3% in the second quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 16,877,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,307,497,000 after buying an additional 10,214,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of ExxonMobil by 5.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,376,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,099,783,000 after buying an additional 693,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

ExxonMobil Stock Up 1.8%

The firm has a market cap of $692.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.06.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $110.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $104.89 billion. ExxonMobil had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 16.63%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that ExxonMobil Corporation will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

ExxonMobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This is an increase from ExxonMobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. ExxonMobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.34%.

ExxonMobil Company Profile

ExxonMobil is an integrated energy and chemical company with operations spanning the oil and natural gas value chain. Its businesses explore for and produce crude oil and natural gas, refine and market fuels, and manufacture chemicals and other specialty products. The company’s products include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemical feedstocks and materials used in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications. ExxonMobil also pursues lower-emission solutions, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and lower-emission fuels.