Devon Energy Corporation $DVN Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,880 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 13,895 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $5,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DVN. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 98.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 115,780 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 57,555 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Devon Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 58.8% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 28,251 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $899,000 after acquiring an additional 10,464 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 17.8% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 148,882 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after acquiring an additional 22,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 6.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 144,174 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,586,000 after acquiring an additional 8,127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Stock Down 1.8%

DVN stock opened at $44.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.29. Devon Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.24 and a twelve month high of $52.71.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.34 billion. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 15.22% and a net margin of 13.71%.The business’s revenue was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Devon Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is 26.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on DVN shares. Evercore started coverage on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Devon Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Devon Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Devon Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Devon Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.66, for a total transaction of $3,267,553.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 428,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,991,570.32. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total transaction of $1,149,185.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 130,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,162,793.40. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Profile

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the exploration, development, production and marketing of hydrocarbons, including crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas. Devon operates as an upstream energy company that acquires, evaluates and develops onshore resource plays using a combination of drilling, completion and production optimization techniques.

Core business activities include identifying and developing energy reserves, operating well programs and managing reservoir performance to generate production and cash flow.