Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Patterson-UTI Energy Put Options (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 40,078 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 414% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,801 put options.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.94. The stock had a trading volume of 10,688,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,774,456. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.98. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 12 month low of $9.70 and a 12 month high of $16.17. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.22.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is 31.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Benchmark cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Patterson-UTI Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $2,204,254.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,011,093.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PTEN. Blackstone Inc. purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy during the third quarter valued at $483,016,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,194,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $597,807,000 after purchasing an additional 18,495,822 shares during the period. Cerberus Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $188,486,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 21,195.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,655,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $161,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,658 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 397.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,882,977 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $81,420,000 after buying an additional 4,699,682 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.