Traders Buy Large Volume of Exxon Mobil Call Options (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 108,217 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 34% compared to the average daily volume of 80,789 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on XOM shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $132.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,814 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,542,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 7,593 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 46,650 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after purchasing an additional 4,011 shares during the last quarter. Verde Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 57.0% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,113 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 13,475 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.9 %

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $112.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $493.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.91. Exxon Mobil has a fifty-two week low of $95.77 and a fifty-two week high of $126.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.52.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.27 EPS. Research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.32%.

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.