Earnest Partners LLC Trims Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,586 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $2,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 388,543,396 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $38,846,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,495 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 6.3% in 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 boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 11.3% in 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,235,972,000 after buying an additional 5,330,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 5,523,429 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

NYSE XOM opened at $115.83 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.61. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52-week low of $95.77 and a 52-week high of $123.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.90. 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 released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.10. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 46.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on XOM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Exxon Mobil 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.