Insider Selling: Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Director Sells $2,044,700.00 in Stock

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.89, for a total transaction 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 $13,771,330.09. This trade represents 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 at this link.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Patterson-UTI Energy stock opened at $8.83 on Friday. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.15 and a 12-month high of $12.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.57 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.37. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -12.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $182,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,659 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,954,738 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $140,046,000 after acquiring an additional 7,989,877 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,352,840 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 8,254,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,636,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $79,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,094 shares during the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PTEN shares. 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 reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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 given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

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.