Welch Group LLC Grows Stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Welch Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 514,753 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,142 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil accounts for about 2.6% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $60,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of XOM. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 6.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,676,652 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.9% during the second 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. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,719,296,000 after buying an additional 5,235,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 25.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,511,952 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,197,989,000 after buying an additional 5,523,429 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.44.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

XOM stock opened at $117.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.39. The company has a market capitalization of $462.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.89. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1-year low of $95.77 and a 1-year high of $126.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.09 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio 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.