Insider Selling: Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Director Sells 230,000 Shares of Stock

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the business’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 value of $2,044,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,549,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,771,330.09. This trade represents a 12.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

PTEN stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.09. The company had a trading volume of 6,933,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,272,057. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.68 and a beta of 2.06. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.15 and a fifty-two week high of $12.65.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PTEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PTEN. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 101.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 130,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 65,570 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter worth $75,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares in the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 668.6% in the third quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 279,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 243,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,548 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company 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.