Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Stock Price Up 3.6% – Still a Buy?

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s share price shot up 3.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $123.63 and last traded at $122.76. 20,145,104 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 21,619,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.49.

More Exxon Mobil News

Here are the key news stories impacting Exxon Mobil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. push on Venezuela raises the prospect of new upstream opportunities for major oil names, and media/market commentary (including Jim Cramer) has highlighted Exxon as a potential beneficiary—supporting upside investor sentiment. Jim Cramer discusses Exxon (XOM) & Venezuela operation
• Positive Sentiment: Exxon signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Turkey’s national oil company to explore untapped Black Sea and Mediterranean acreage—a near‑term growth/production prospect that investors view positively. ExxonMobil Enters Exploration MoU With Turkey’s National Oil Company
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary notes Exxon’s strong history of earnings beats and the company’s mix of upstream/refining businesses that can produce upside surprises—supporting expectations for another solid report. Will Exxon (XOM) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlights Exxon’s integrated model—refining and marketing gains can offset upstream weakness—reducing earnings volatility but limiting upside tied solely to crude prices. XOM’s Integrated Business Model Shields Earnings Amid Lower Oil Prices
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces also highlight Exxon’s low‑carbon projects (CCS, hydrogen, lithium) and durable dividend profile—longer‑term positives but less likely to move near‑term price action. Will ExxonMobil’s Low-Carbon Business Act as Its Next Growth Engine?
• Negative Sentiment: Exxon warned that lower liquids/crude prices could cut fourth‑quarter upstream profit by roughly $800M–$1.2B versus Q3—an explicit near‑term earnings headwind that pressured the stock on earlier headlines. Exxon signals fall in fourth-quarter upstream profit
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets repeated the warning (and at least one analyst downgrade followed), keeping downside risk if oil prices remain weak into the quarter close. Exxon Mobil Tells Investors Falling Oil Prices Will Dent Profits

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on XOM. Bank of America lowered their target price on Exxon Mobil from $119.00 to $118.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.71.

Exxon Mobil Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $525.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.87.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $57.55 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 3,000 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 28,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,349,758.96. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 1,595.2% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 356 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 121.8% in the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Company 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.