ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Shares Climb 2.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Posted by George Bondi on Oct 16th, 2026

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded up 2.5% on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $177.00 to $185.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. ExxonMobil traded as high as $179.16 and last traded at $179.0250. Approximately 13,111,095 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 17,959,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.68.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on XOM. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of ExxonMobil in a report on Friday, September 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on ExxonMobil from $182.00 to $177.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Freedom Capital raised ExxonMobil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on ExxonMobil from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of ExxonMobil in a report on Monday, September 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.13.

View Our Latest Stock Report on XOM

Trending Headlines about ExxonMobil

Here are the key news stories impacting ExxonMobil this week:

Positive Sentiment: Refining provides a major earnings boost: ExxonMobil expects third-quarter Energy Products earnings to benefit by approximately $4.5 billion from stronger refining margins compared with the second quarter. The benefit highlights the value of the company’s integrated model, which can profit from favorable fuel-market conditions even when upstream results weaken. ExxonMobil’s Refining Profits Are Set to Jump $4.5 Billion
Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and production growth: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $185 from $177 and maintained an overweight rating. Investors are also watching production milestones in Guyana and the Permian Basin, where high-return projects are moving toward free-cash-flow generation. Morgan Stanley Raises Exxon Mobil Price Target
Positive Sentiment: Financial resilience: ExxonMobil’s low debt load and strong balance sheet provide flexibility to sustain operations, pursue investments and return capital to shareholders during periods of oil-price volatility. ExxonMobil’s Strong Balance Sheet Offers Cushion
Neutral Sentiment: Formal results are approaching: ExxonMobil will release third-quarter 2026 results on October 30, giving investors a more complete view of refining gains, upstream performance, cash flow and guidance. ExxonMobil to Release Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Negative Sentiment: Upstream and geopolitical pressures remain: Changes in oil prices are expected to reduce upstream earnings, while ExxonMobil is bracing for an estimated $1.3 billion impact linked to Middle East-related factors. These headwinds could limit the overall earnings benefit from refining. ExxonMobil Signals Lower Third-Quarter Earnings

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ExxonMobil

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in ExxonMobil by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,364,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,812,790,000 after buying an additional 1,540,902 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in ExxonMobil by 5.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 24,511,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,158,563,000 after buying an additional 1,192,386 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in ExxonMobil by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,367,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,089,988,000 after buying an additional 577,181 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in ExxonMobil by 153.3% during 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 buying an additional 10,214,420 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in ExxonMobil by 5.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

ExxonMobil Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $742.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.41.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $114.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.94 billion. ExxonMobil had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 13.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that ExxonMobil Corporation will post 12.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ExxonMobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. ExxonMobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.02%.

About ExxonMobil

(Get Free Report)

Exxon Mobil Corporation, commonly known as ExxonMobil, is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas. The company also manufactures and markets fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and specialty products used in transportation, industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil operates across the energy value chain through businesses that include upstream oil and natural gas production, refining and fuels marketing, chemical manufacturing, and lower-carbon solutions.