Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases 182,170 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 217.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,958 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 182,170 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned about 0.07% of Patterson-UTI Energy worth $2,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $182,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,659 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,954,738 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $140,046,000 after acquiring an additional 7,989,877 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,214,860 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $84,375,000 after acquiring an additional 8,254,137 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,636,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $79,597,000 after buying an additional 1,144,094 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,321,667 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $60,477,000 after buying an additional 1,743,241 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 2.6%

NASDAQ:PTEN opened at $5.99 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.76. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.12 and a 52 week high of $11.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 1.33.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 18.00% and a positive return on equity of 0.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.34%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -12.31%.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.88 per share, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,482,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. The trade was a 1.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 48,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.42, for a total transaction of $357,265.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,475 shares in the company, valued at $634,224.50. The trade was a 36.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PTEN. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.32.

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.