Columbia Asset Management Buys Shares of 24,069 Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Columbia Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 24,069 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,589,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in XOM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,936,737,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Exxon Mobil by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,731,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538,694 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 1,524.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,445,922 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $585,818,000 after purchasing an additional 5,110,603 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 13,899.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,812 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875,320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,989,570. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on XOM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Bernstein Bank upped their target price on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.05.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Shares of XOM stock opened at $118.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $111.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.85. Exxon Mobil Co. has a one year low of $103.67 and a one year high of $126.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.51%.

Exxon Mobil Company 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.