Exxon Mobil Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:XOM)

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 121,947 call options on the company. This is an increase of 53% compared to the typical daily volume of 79,515 call options.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XOM opened at $112.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $482.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.49. Exxon Mobil has a 1-year low of $97.80 and a 1-year high of $126.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.78. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $83.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.11 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.63% and a return on equity of 12.92%. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. Research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.52%.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Exxon Mobil by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 93,299,598 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,023,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,617 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,936,737,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,017,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,950,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,892 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 3.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 45,323,453 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,390,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,662,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,836,226,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140,046 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XOM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays restated a “hold” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Exxon Mobil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.50.

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.