First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 1,000,450 Shares of Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 62.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,603,593 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000,450 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.42% of Devon Energy worth $131,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in Devon Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SouthState Bank Corp increased its position in Devon Energy by 173.6% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 766 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 6,666.7% in the first quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 812 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. 69.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DVN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $46.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.56.

Devon Energy Price Performance

Shares of DVN stock opened at $45.26 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.34. Devon Energy Corporation has a one year low of $31.47 and a one year high of $52.71. The firm has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Devon Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is currently 35.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total transaction of $1,149,185.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 130,540 shares in the company, valued at $6,162,793.40. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,991,570.32. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 112,371 shares of company stock worth $5,258,059 in the last quarter. 4.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Devon Energy Company 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.