Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Position Reduced by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 23.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 276,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 84,813 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $2,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PTEN. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 1,443.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,441 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,218 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,660 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on PTEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.50 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.50.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:PTEN opened at $5.93 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.12 and a 1-year high of $11.27.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 0.81% and a negative net margin of 18.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $7.88 per share, with a total value of $197,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,482,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. This trade represents a 1.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.98, for a total value of $32,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 999,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,978,528.92. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.