Exxon Mobil Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 108,217 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 34% compared to the typical daily volume of 80,789 call options.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:XOM opened at $112.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $493.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.50. Exxon Mobil has a 1 year low of $95.77 and a 1 year high of $126.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 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 analyst estimates of $93.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Exxon Mobil will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of XOM. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 2,778 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Etfidea LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Etfidea LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 9,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 13,378 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.6% in the third quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 14,537 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XOM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.84.

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.