Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 79.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,950 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,950 shares during the period. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 8.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,709,202 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $786,453,000 after buying an additional 521,932 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 32,005 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,752,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 7.4% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 50.5% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 3,619 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Resource Group raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 3.0% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 43,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $231,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,989,570. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exxon Mobil Stock Down 5.6 %

XOM opened at $99.84 on Friday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a twelve month low of $97.80 and a twelve month high of $126.34. The firm has a market cap of $433.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.27. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 EPS 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 last year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $146.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.20.

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.