Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,709,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 521,932 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Exxon Mobil worth $786,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Exxon Mobil by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,161,783 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,249,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676,652 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 11.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,312,338 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,640,756,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080,716 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,794,077 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,235,972,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330,887 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 19.3% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Exxon Mobil by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,511,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,197,989,000 after buying an additional 5,523,429 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Exxon Mobil stock opened at $121.15 on Friday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a twelve month low of $95.77 and a twelve month high of $126.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $477.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.36.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on XOM shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic restated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.95.

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.