Zacks Research Upgrades ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) to “Strong-Buy”

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on XOM. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of ExxonMobil from $135.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of ExxonMobil from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of ExxonMobil in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of ExxonMobil from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of ExxonMobil from $128.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ExxonMobil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.55.

ExxonMobil Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:XOM opened at $149.46 on Tuesday. ExxonMobil has a one year low of $101.18 and a one year high of $176.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $621.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.49.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.08. ExxonMobil had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The business had revenue of $80.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that ExxonMobil will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ExxonMobil

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.75, for a total transaction of $698,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 23,584 shares in the company, valued at $3,295,864. The trade was a 17.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,460 shares of company stock worth $1,687,854. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in ExxonMobil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,625,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in ExxonMobil by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,366,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660,910 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in ExxonMobil by 218.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,380,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $155,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,791 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in ExxonMobil by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,997,332 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,925,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in ExxonMobil by 334.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,062,497 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $368,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357,467 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Key ExxonMobil News

Here are the key news stories impacting ExxonMobil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its price target on XOM to $163 and moved to a “sector outperform” view, signaling stronger analyst conviction and potential upside versus peers. Scotiabank raises XOM PT to $163 (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst reports highlight Exxon’s production growth, Guyana success and low?carbon investments — reinforcing the growth and diversification narrative that supports valuation multiple expansion. Top Analyst Reports for Exxon Mobil, IBM & Citigroup
• Positive Sentiment: Gabon expects to sign production?sharing contracts with BP and Exxon within 4–6 months — a near?term opportunity to boost upstream volumes and future cash flow. Gabon expects to sign production-sharing contracts with BP and Exxon (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Exxon and peers are raising prices for plastics amid supply shocks tied to Middle East tensions — a margin tailwind for the chemicals segment if spreads hold. This Is Why Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) Is Hiking Plastics Prices (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks added XOM to its Rank #1 (Strong Buy) lists (general and income focused), which can attract investor interest from momentum and income?seeking flows. New Strong Buy Stocks for April 22nd (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Bloomberg/Reuters report Exxon is exploring a sale of its Hong Kong gas?station network for $500–$600M — a noncore asset sale that could free cash and slightly improve capital allocation but is not material to overall free cash flow. Exxon Mobil Is Said to Consider Sale of Hong Kong Gas Stations (Bloomberg)
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research downgraded Exxon, saying shares look fairly valued after a recent rally — that could pressure sentiment and limit near?term upside from multiple expansion. Exxon downgraded at Wolfe (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing governance disputes (proxy fights over board/CEO structure and shareholder voting) add investor uncertainty and could be a distraction during heightened geopolitical risk. Does Exxon’s Governance Standoff Amid Middle East Turmoil Change The Bull Case For XOM? (Yahoo)

ExxonMobil Company Profile

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.