Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,653,493 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,413 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $13,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 5,678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 92.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 3,307 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 25.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 47.4% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 10,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.89, for a total value of $2,044,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,549,081 shares in the company, valued at $13,771,330.09. The trade was a 12.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total transaction of $588,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $238,743.68. This represents a 71.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 5.5 %

NASDAQ PTEN opened at $8.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.54. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $7.15 and a one year high of $12.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.38 and a beta of 2.06.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is -12.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.63.

Patterson-UTI Energy Profile

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.