ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Exxon Mobil Corporation $XOM

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) by 9.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 85,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,240 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $9,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 0.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,058,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,468,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,231 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 96,307,931 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,345,132,000 after buying an additional 342,967 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,163,719,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 46,598,313 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,023,298,000 after buying an additional 1,274,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,500,304 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,611,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126,912 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

NYSE:XOM opened at $119.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $502.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.38. Exxon Mobil Corporation has a twelve month low of $97.80 and a twelve month high of $120.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $57.55 billion during the quarter. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 11.22%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.88%.

Insider Transactions at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.19, for a total value of $351,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 28,584 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,758.96. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Exxon Mobil from $119.00 to $118.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.45.

Exxon Mobil Profile

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.