Yacktman Asset Management LP Reduces Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Yacktman Asset Management LP lowered its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $14,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of XOM. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 145,199,301 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,072,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162,149 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 2.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,828,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,329,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,937 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 1.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,696,758 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,137,865,000 after acquiring an additional 576,078 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,882,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,088,077,000 after acquiring an additional 132,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,197,103 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,081,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $114.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Exxon Mobil from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $147.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.28.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Shares of Exxon Mobil stock traded down $2.52 on Friday, hitting $118.81. 19,857,061 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,115,902. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $470.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.96. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1 year low of $95.77 and a 1 year high of $123.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.62.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by ($0.13). Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 18.51%. The company had revenue of $83.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,845. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Exxon Mobil 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.