Rhumbline Advisers Acquires 22,413 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,653,493 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,413 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.42% of Patterson-UTI Energy worth $13,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $182,518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123,659 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,352,840 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 8,254,137 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,980,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $68,717,000 after acquiring an additional 478,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,321,667 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $60,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 32,438 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.89, for a total transaction of $2,044,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,549,081 shares in the company, valued at $13,771,330.09. This trade represents a 12.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PTEN. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lowered 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 stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Down 5.5 %

PTEN stock opened at $8.34 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.38 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.15 and a 12 month high of $12.65.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.96%.

Patterson-UTI Energy 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.