Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 32,699 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,343% compared to the typical volume of 2,266 call options.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Patterson-UTI Energy stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.36. 11,054,467 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,532,389. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -45.44 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.80 and a 200 day moving average of $6.96. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 1-year low of $5.10 and a 1-year high of $11.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 1.94% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a positive change from Patterson-UTI Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is currently -160.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 164,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.18, for a total value of $1,677,409.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 233,137 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 33,645 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 187.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,591 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 4,299 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 49,961 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 16,709 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 268,475.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 10,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 10,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PTEN. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $6.00 target price (down from $7.00) on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.11.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy provides a comprehensive suite of onshore contract drilling and pressure pumping services to exploration and production companies in North America. The company’s core offerings include land-based drilling rigs, directional drilling, hydraulic fracturing services, downhole tool rental and well-servicing equipment. By integrating drilling and completion capabilities, Patterson-UTI Energy offers operators a streamlined solution designed to improve operational efficiency and well performance.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Patterson-UTI Energy traces its origins to its founding in 1978 and was later incorporated in Delaware in 1996.