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

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 182,883 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 127% compared to the typical volume of 80,694 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,299,598 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,023,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,617 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter worth about $6,936,737,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,017,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,950,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,892 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 3.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 45,323,453 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,390,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340,343 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,662,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,836,226,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140,046 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Exxon Mobil from $129.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded Exxon Mobil to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.50.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Shares of XOM opened at $108.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $467.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51. 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 has a one year low of $97.80 and a one year high of $126.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $109.00 and its 200-day moving average is $110.91.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $83.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.11 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.52%.

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.