Van ECK Associates Corp Has $91.86 Million Stock Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,505,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 519,259 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $91,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PTEN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $146,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 167,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 25,919 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 785,643 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,485,000 after buying an additional 50,837 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $2,204,254.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PTEN. StockNews.com downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 2.8 %

PTEN stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,707,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,438,028. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $9.70 and a one year high of $16.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.71 and a 200-day moving average of $11.55. The stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 2.22.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is 31.68%.

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.