By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN – Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 45,132,530 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,054,860 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Patterson-UTI Energy worth $372,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,214,860 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $84,375,000 after purchasing an additional 8,254,137 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $182,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,659 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,321,667 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $60,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743,241 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,435,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,636,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $79,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy
In other news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. acquired 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.88 per share, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,482,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. This trade represents a 1.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.89, for a total transaction of $2,044,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,549,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,771,330.09. This represents a 12.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
PTEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.54.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Patterson-UTI Energy
Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 2.1 %
Shares of PTEN stock opened at $8.56 on Thursday. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.03 and a fifty-two week high of $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 1.99.
Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is presently -12.96%.
About Patterson-UTI Energy
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Drilling Services, Completion Services, and Drilling Products. The Contract Drilling Services segment provides contract and directional drilling services in onshore oil and natural gas basins, as well as engages in the service and re-certification of equipment for drilling contractors, and provision of electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries.
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