Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. Acquires 25,000 Shares of Stock

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. bought 25,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.88 per share, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,482,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. This trade represents a 1.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Shares of PTEN stock opened at $7.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 1.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.24. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.03 and a 12-month high of $12.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -12.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 106,753 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 9,295 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 92.4% during 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. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 19.8% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 211,019 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 34,897 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter valued at $3,343,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 67.2% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 115,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 46,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PTEN. Raymond James cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.63.

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.