Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Increases Holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,315 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,722 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil makes up about 0.8% of Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $13,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of XOM. Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 37,297 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,564 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.9% in the second quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,751 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $136,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 720.2% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,978 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after buying an additional 14,030 shares during the period. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 407.5% during the first quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 24,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after buying an additional 19,363 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Shares of Exxon Mobil stock opened at $115.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $454.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.88 and a 200 day moving average of $115.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12 month low of $95.77 and a 12 month high of $123.75.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.09 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.07%. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.57%.

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.