Are Exxon Mobil’s Goliath Institutional Investors Cautious About the Rest of 2012?

So far in 2012, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (NYSE:XOM) shares are up 1.71 percent. On Monday, Deutsche Bank analysts downgraded the company’s rating from “Buy” to “Hold,” noting industry trends and macroeconomic factors.

One Deutsche Bank analyst wrote, “Volumes are guided to be weak in 2012 — and likely to under-perform with our forecast showing down -4% year over year, even having recovered from Q1′s -6% fall. Star segment chemicals is expected to record a sequential rise but year over year fall; when all moving parts are considered, our estimate is for earnings to be flat Q1 to Q2; but after recent strong outperformance and what we consider to be a recent low in oil (we think that WTI hit our target of the marginal cost of US production, Brent fell below our target for Brent, which is the Saudi target of $100/bbl.) we are moving to a less defensive stance, and favoring Chevron (NYSE:CVX) as our mega cap play.”

With news of the downgrade, will Exxon Mobil’s largest shareholders decrease their holdings? 182 institutional firms indicated owning shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) in Q2 2012. These firms reported owning a total of 41.053 million shares on 06/30/2012. The shares closed at $85.57 on 06/30/2012.

Here are the ten largest positions in Exxon Mobil Corp. at the end of June 30th, 2012.

Nordea Investment Management AB held 3,908,299 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $334,433,144. This brought the portfolio total to 2.66%.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC held 3,600,923 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $308,130,980. This brought the portfolio total to 3.43%.

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. held 3,114,320 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $266,492,361. This brought the portfolio total to 3.23%.

Huntington National Bank held 1,828,356 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $156,452,422. This brought the portfolio total to 4.05%.

Shell Asset Management Co held 1,673,897 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $143,235,366. This brought the portfolio total to 3.44%.

Exxonmobil Investment Management Inc /TX held 1,560,705 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $133,549,526. This brought the portfolio total to 3.24%.

Fjarde AP-Fonden /Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund held 1,494,967 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $127,924,326. This brought the portfolio total to 3.15%.

Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC held 1,442,882 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $123,467,412. This brought the portfolio total to 2.57%.

Wellcome Trust Ltd (the) as trustee of the wellcome trust held 1,300,000 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $111,241,000. This brought the portfolio total to 4.86%.

First Republic Investment Management Inc. held 1,066,327 shares on 06/30/2012 worth $91,245,601. This brought the portfolio total to 2.95%.

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