ExxonMobil Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:XOM)

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 288,352 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 351% compared to the average daily volume of 63,997 call options.

Institutional Trading of ExxonMobil

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 31,933,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,197,181,000 after buying an additional 465,409 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in ExxonMobil by 5.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,364,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,812,790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540,902 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in ExxonMobil by 5.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 24,511,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,158,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,386 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in ExxonMobil by 153.3% in the second quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 16,877,523 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,307,497,000 after acquiring an additional 10,214,420 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in ExxonMobil by 5.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,376,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,099,783,000 after acquiring an additional 693,800 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about ExxonMobil

Investors following XOM have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $206 from $200 and maintained an Overweight rating, signaling continued analyst optimism. Article: What’s Going On With ExxonMobil Stock Friday?
• Positive Sentiment: ExxonMobil approved the $12.5 billion Longtail development offshore Guyana. The project is expected to add future production capacity, supporting longer-term growth, although production is not expected until 2030. Article: ExxonMobil Advances Next Phase of Guyana Development with Longtail
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns remain robust: ExxonMobil raised its quarterly dividend 3.9% to $1.07 per share, its 44th consecutive annual increase, and plans $20 billion in buybacks in 2027. The company generated more than $39 billion in free cash flow through September. Article: ExxonMobil dividend and buyback plans

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XOM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair began coverage on shares of ExxonMobil in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Argus increased their target price on shares of ExxonMobil from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of ExxonMobil from $180.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $160.00) on shares of ExxonMobil in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of ExxonMobil from $184.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.79.

ExxonMobil Price Performance

NYSE:XOM traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $170.56. The stock had a trading volume of 11,452,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,270,899. ExxonMobil has a one year low of $114.19 and a one year high of $188.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $695.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.19.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.11. ExxonMobil had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $110.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that ExxonMobil will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

ExxonMobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. This is an increase from ExxonMobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. ExxonMobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

ExxonMobil Company Profile

ExxonMobil is an integrated energy and chemical company with operations spanning the oil and natural gas value chain. Its businesses explore for and produce crude oil and natural gas, refine and market fuels, and manufacture chemicals and other specialty products. The company’s products include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemical feedstocks and materials used in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications. ExxonMobil also pursues lower-emission solutions, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and lower-emission fuels.