Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Position Trimmed by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 62.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,003 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 16,414 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,595,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $556,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,020 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,505,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $91,860,000 after acquiring an additional 519,259 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,303,828 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,208,000 after buying an additional 703,536 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,784,937 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,677,000 after buying an additional 177,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $44,911,000. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PTEN shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.55, for a total transaction of $1,732,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,007,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,191,187.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $10.44. The stock had a trading volume of 13,128,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,907,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.94. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.51 and a 12-month high of $16.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 2.19.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 4.07%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.06%.

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.