Bailard Inc. Purchases New Shares in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 27,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,435,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352,840 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $84,375,000 after buying an additional 8,254,137 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $68,717,000 after buying an additional 478,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% in 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 buying an additional 1,743,241 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PTEN shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued 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 $11.63.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PTEN opened at $7.30 on Thursday. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.07 and a 12-month high of $12.65. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.31.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -12.96%.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total value of $588,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $238,743.68. This represents a 71.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% 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.