Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Decreases Stock Holdings in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its position in shares of Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,164,354 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 728,801 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $38,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,682,170 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,640,727,000 after acquiring an additional 5,465,692 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Devon Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $154,170,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 135.5% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,371,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $175,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090,585 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Devon Energy by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,461,719 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $309,682,000 after buying an additional 2,335,473 shares during the period. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Devon Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $51,522,000. 69.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DVN shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Devon Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Devon Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Devon Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.87.

Devon Energy Price Performance

NYSE DVN opened at $31.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.25. Devon Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.89 and a fifty-two week high of $52.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.50.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The energy company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.16. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 18.14%. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Co. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. This is a boost from Devon Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

About Devon Energy

Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, Williston, and Powder River Basins. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.