On March 22, 2023 at 10:14:41 ET an unusually large $2,078.00K block of Call contracts in Exxon Mobil (XOM) was bought, with a strike price of $100.00 / share, expiring in 86 days (on June 16, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 2.84 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 97.99 percentile of all recent large trades made in XOM options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Unusual Option Trades tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 20.68% Upside

As of March 21, 2023, the average one-year price target for Exxon Mobil is $129.18. The forecasts range from a low of $110.09 to a high of $155.40. The average price target represents an increase of 20.68% from its latest reported closing price of $107.04.

See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.

The projected annual revenue for Exxon Mobil is $411,239MM, an increase of 2.24%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $11.46.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 4805 funds or institutions reporting positions in Exxon Mobil. This is an increase of 353 owner(s) or 7.93% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to XOM is 1.01%, a decrease of 6.93%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 1.32% to 2,717,390K shares. The put/call ratio of XOM is 0.77, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are Large Shareholders Doing?

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 125,181K shares representing 3.07% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 124,355K shares, representing an increase of 0.66%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in XOM by 17.44% over the last quarter.

VFINX – Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares holds 95,203K shares representing 2.34% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 94,477K shares, representing an increase of 0.76%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in XOM by 17.28% over the last quarter.

XLE – The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund holds 84,748K shares representing 2.08% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 88,655K shares, representing a decrease of 4.61%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in XOM by 0.60% over the last quarter.

Geode Capital Management holds 73,350K shares representing 1.80% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 74,570K shares, representing a decrease of 1.66%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in XOM by 14.88% over the last quarter.

Jpmorgan Chase & holds 53,326K shares representing 1.31% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 49,847K shares, representing an increase of 6.52%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in XOM by 24.07% over the last quarter.

Exxon Mobil Declares $0.91 Dividend

On January 31, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share ($3.64 annualized). Shareholders of record as of February 14, 2023 received the payment on March 10, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.88 per share.

At the current share price of $107.04 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 3.40%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 5.38%, the lowest has been 3.09%, and the highest has been 11.07%. The standard deviation of yields is 1.80 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 1.10 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.27. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.05%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Exxon Mobil Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

ExxonMobil, one of the largest publicly traded international energy companies, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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