Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,500 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 5,678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 92.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 3,307 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 25.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $75,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PTEN. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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 note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.63.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total transaction of $588,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $238,743.68. This represents a 71.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of PTEN stock opened at $8.92 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.37. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.61 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.15 and a twelve month 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. Investors 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 yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is -12.96%.

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.