William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. Purchases 25,000 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Stock

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. acquired 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.88 per share, with a total value of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,482,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. This represents a 1.02 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Shares of PTEN opened at $7.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.20 and a beta of 1.99. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.03 and a 52 week high of $12.65.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $182,518,000 after buying an additional 2,123,659 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,954,738 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $140,046,000 after buying an additional 7,989,877 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $118,080,000 after buying an additional 1,352,840 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,214,860 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $84,375,000 after buying an additional 8,254,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,636,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $79,597,000 after buying an additional 1,144,094 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on PTEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.63.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

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.