Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Trims Holdings in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 14,700 shares during the period. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $4,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in XOM. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the first quarter worth $27,000. IMA Wealth Inc. increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 720.0% in the second quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 369 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. increased its position in Exxon Mobil by 222.5% in the first quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 574 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the third quarter worth $49,000. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Exxon Mobil

In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,845. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on XOM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Exxon Mobil from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $114.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Exxon Mobil from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.44.

Exxon Mobil Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:XOM opened at $119.68 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 1-year low of $95.77 and a 1-year high of $123.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $473.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.12.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.28. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 18.51% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $84.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.40 EPS. Exxon Mobil’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

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.