101,279 Shares in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Purchased by Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 101,279 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,212,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 2,200 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $1,113,000. Archer Investment Corp bought a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $146,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PTEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $15.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.30.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

PTEN traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $12.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,405,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,538,563. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.37. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.70 and a twelve month high of $18.69. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 2.41.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.04). Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 14.08% and a net margin of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $978.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, CFO Charles Andrew Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.90, for a total transaction of $159,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 514,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,179,166.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, insider James Michael Holcomb sold 11,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.95, for a total transaction of $188,465.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 376,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,998,938.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Charles Andrew Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.90, for a total transaction of $159,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 514,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,179,166.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,816 shares of company stock valued at $2,091,465 in the last three months. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Contract Drilling Services, Pressure Pumping Services, and Directional Drilling Services. The Contract Drilling Services segment markets its contract drilling services primarily in west Texas, Appalachia, Rockies, Oklahoma, South Texas, East Texas, and Colombia.