South Dakota Investment Council Increases Position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 278,194 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 60,895 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil accounts for approximately 0.6% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $27,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 83.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,269,030 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $149,213,000 after purchasing an additional 575,649 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 34.3% during the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 4,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 87,926 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,791,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $378,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,845. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $121.05 on Thursday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12-month low of $95.77 and a 12-month high of $123.75. The company has a market capitalization of $479.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.51.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $84.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.03 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 18.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on XOM shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.28.

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.