Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 486,473 Shares of Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 643.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 562,059 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 486,473 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Devon Energy worth $28,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in Devon Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SouthState Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 173.6% in the first quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 766 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $1,149,185.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 130,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,162,793.40. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Andrea Alexander sold 18,000 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.74, for a total value of $841,320.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 112,371 shares of company stock valued at $5,258,059 over the last 90 days. 4.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on DVN shares. Wolfe Research set a $67.00 target price on shares of Devon Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore upgraded shares of Devon Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Susquehanna boosted 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, July 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Devon Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.56.

Devon Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DVN opened at $42.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.82 and a 200-day moving average of $44.51. Devon Energy Corporation has a one year low of $31.47 and a one year high of $52.71. The company has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.02). The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Devon Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.65%.

About Devon Energy

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.