Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 116,982 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) by 729.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,011 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 116,982 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $1,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PTEN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,954,738 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $140,046,000 after buying an additional 7,989,877 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,636,471 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $79,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,094 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $52,817,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,208,086 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $51,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,288,829 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $35,426,000 after purchasing an additional 170,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.98, for a total value of $32,890.00. Following the sale, the director owned 999,754 shares in the company, valued at $5,978,528.92. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PTEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.50.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded down $0.25 on Monday, hitting $6.30. The company had a trading volume of 8,444,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,988,889. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $6.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.42 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.04. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 0.70% and a negative net margin of 19.78%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio is -12.31%.

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.