Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised Patterson-UTI Energy’s price target from $12 to $13 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 5.2% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish overall: nine analysts rate the stock a Buy and six rate it a Hold, producing a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.91.
• Patterson-UTI exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.07 in adjusted earnings per share versus a $0.04 consensus estimate and $1.34 billion in revenue, up 14.1% year over year; however, insiders sold more than 1 million shares over the past 90 days.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.20% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on PTEN. Zacks Research downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.91.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Patterson-UTI Energy stock traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $12.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,959,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,446,011. Patterson-UTI Energy has a twelve month low of $5.24 and a twelve month high of $13.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $11.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -206.08 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.58% and a negative net margin of 0.52%. The company's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.10) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, EVP Seth Wexler sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.75, for a total transaction of $1,530,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 404,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,158,420.50. This trade represents a 22.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Drummond Jr. sold 198,395 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.85, for a total transaction of $2,549,375.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 928,773 shares in the company, valued at $11,934,733.05. The trade was a 17.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,027,000 shares of company stock valued at $12,698,780 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $577,234,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 14.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,211,576 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $229,732,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745,872 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 11.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,450,347 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $102,347,000 after acquiring an additional 934,766 shares in the last quarter. Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,729,934. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc is an oilfield services company that provides drilling, completion and production-related services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Its operations are primarily focused on onshore oil and gas development in the United States.

The company provides contract land drilling services through a fleet of rigs, as well as directional drilling and related technologies used to guide wellbores. Patterson-UTI also offers pressure pumping and hydraulic fracturing, wireline, well-completion, equipment rental and other services that support the development and maintenance of unconventional wells.

Patterson-UTI expanded its completion-services business through its 2023 merger with NexTier Oilfield Solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.