Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s share price dropped 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $162.93 and last traded at $163.0990. Approximately 17,109,156 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 22,135,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.38.

Key Stories Impacting Exxon Mobil

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

• Positive Sentiment: Exxon has a team in Venezuela evaluating the country’s oil & gas resources and infrastructure, which could open long‑term upstream opportunities and reserves upside if projects proceed. CERAWEEK Exxon says its team is in Venezuela evaluating oil opportunities
• Positive Sentiment: ExxonMobil Guyana is advancing the Longtail development (FEED work awarded to SBM Offshore), signaling continued capital deployment and production growth in Guyana, a key growth basin for Exxon. SBM Offshore awarded FEED contracts for the Longtail project in Guyana
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and markets have been bullish on Exxon amid higher oil prices tied to Middle East tensions; coverage and buy‑and‑hold commentary boost longer‑term investor confidence. 2 of the Best Oil Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for Decades
• Neutral Sentiment: Price forecasts and opinion pieces (price predictions, buy-and-hold analyses) keep XOM on investors’ radars but offer mixed short-term implications; they are more relevant for longer‑term positioning than intraday moves. XOM Stock Price Prediction
• Negative Sentiment: Oil retreated on recent de‑escalation buzz and risk‑off whispers, prompting profit taking after a geopolitical‑driven surge; that pullback in crude pressure is a key reason XOM pared gains today. Oil Eases on De-Escalation Buzz but Risks Persist: 3 Stocks to Watch
• Negative Sentiment: After hitting an all‑time high amid Middle East tensions, Exxon saw short‑term profit taking and volatility as markets reassess the persistence of higher oil prices. Exxon Mobil Stock Surges To All-Time High Tuesday

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on XOM. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $137.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Exxon Mobil from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.89.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $147.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $679.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.08. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company had revenue of $80.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Corporation will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is presently 61.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.75, for a total value of $698,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 23,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,295,864. This represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 11,460 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,854 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in XOM. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 75,152,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,043,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,625,063,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 46,605,353 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,608,488,000 after buying an additional 531,362 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,026,019 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,963,934,000 after buying an additional 445,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,728,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,366,655,000 after buying an additional 2,660,910 shares in the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Exxon Mobil

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.