Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 80.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 115,418 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,291 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $4,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 2,108.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,386,921 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $233,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,097,658 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Devon Energy by 42,376.5% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,609,228 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $132,206,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,731 shares during the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC lifted its stake in Devon Energy by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 8,850,790 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $324,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195,862 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Devon Energy by 78.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,360,499 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $202,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Devon Energy by 92.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,180,682 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $260,692,000 after buying an additional 2,485,603 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Price Performance

Shares of Devon Energy stock opened at $45.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.38. Devon Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $31.47 and a 12-month high of $52.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.14.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The energy company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.01 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 73.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is currently 30.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Devon Energy news, SVP Andrea Alexander sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.74, for a total transaction of $841,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 138,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,474,845.46. This represents a 11.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DVN shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Argus increased their target price on Devon Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Devon Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Devon Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.60.

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.