Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 4,415,012 Shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 16.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,415,012 shares during the quarter. Exxon Mobil makes up approximately 1.1% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $3,936,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of XOM. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 360.0% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 918.9% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 377 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 0.1 %

Exxon Mobil stock opened at $111.83 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 12 month low of $95.77 and a 12 month high of $126.34. The stock has a market cap of $491.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.89.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. Exxon Mobil’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on XOM. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $137.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BNP Paribas lowered Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Exxon Mobil in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.84.

Exxon Mobil 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.