Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Stock Price Up 1.9% – What’s Next?

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)’s share price shot up 1.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $8.02 and last traded at $7.97. 2,539,817 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 7,370,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PTEN shares. ATB Capital dropped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.71.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.80.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.61%.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total value of $588,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $238,743.68. This trade represents a 71.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,972,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $152,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,275,525 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,352,840 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,980,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $68,717,000 after buying an additional 478,064 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 6,069,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $62,880,000 after acquiring an additional 778,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,683,096 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $58,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,330 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.