5 Stocks with the Biggest Buybacks

This article presents an overview of the 5 Stocks with the Biggest Buybacks. For a detailed overview of such stocks, read our article, 11 Stocks with the Biggest Buybacks.

5. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM)

Stock Buybacks in 12 Months Through September 2023: $17.8B

Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) ranks 5th in our list of the stocks with the biggest buybacks. In December, Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) said it plans to up its annual share repurchase program to $20 billion in 2024 through 2025 after the Pioneer merger closes, up from $17.5 billion in 2023. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 79 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM).

During Q3 earnings call Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) management talked about stock repurchases:

If you look at our overall free cash flow results in the quarter, it was just under $12 billion at $11.7 billion, and we paid out $8.1 billion to shareholders, and that was between $3.7 billion in dividends and $4.4 billion in the share repurchase program. In fact, in the quarter our cash balance actually went up $3.4 billion, and we ended the quarter at $33 billion, so I think you can see that in the quarter, we were in fact well under 100% in terms of what we paid out, which is what enables us to grow our cash balance and strengthen our balance sheet even further. You know, when you look overall at our approach to capital allocation, our priorities continue to be the same. First and foremost, let’s make sure we’re investing in advantaged projects that are differentiated, are going to drive high returns for our shareholders.

We do that both organically and, as you’ve seen recently, inorganically as well, making sure we’re maintaining a really strong balance sheet – we need that. Ultimately at some point, the cycle will turn against us and that balance sheet will be there for us to lean into, and being balanced in our approach as to how we share the success of the company and those rewards with our shareholders. I think you can continue to see that balance coming through between dividends and share repurchases. We’re looking to be more consistent in our share repurchase program – again, I think you’re seeing that. We continue to say we’re on track to execute $17.5 billion of share repurchases this year. We’ll complete that before the end of the year and we already have a program in place, a similar program in place for 2024, so we’re trying to get that balance right

Read the entire earnings call transcript here.