Corton Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.2% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,104,617 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter valued at $6,936,737,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.0% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings 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 worth $4,731,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,538,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,662,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,836,226,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140,046 shares during the period. 61.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XOM has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $131.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.85.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

XOM stock opened at $104.57 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.40. The stock has a market cap of $452.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51. Exxon Mobil Co. has a one year low of $97.80 and a one year high of $126.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its 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. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $83.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 52.52%.

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.