Thomist Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Thomist Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 431,625 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $3,500,000. Patterson-UTI Energy comprises 0.8% of Thomist Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Thomist Capital Management LP owned about 0.11% of Patterson-UTI Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 360,942 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,981,000 after buying an additional 51,216 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 24,175 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 8,814 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 5,678 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 180,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 36,551 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 12,538 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. bought 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.88 per share, with a total value of $197,000.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 48,149 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 85,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $634,224.50. This trade represents a 36.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PTEN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays cut 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 note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.82.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded down $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.59. 16,825,882 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,475,690. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 1.33. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.12 and a fifty-two week high of $11.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.68. 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 (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.04. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 18.00% and a positive return on equity of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. Patterson-UTI Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy's payout ratio is -12.31%.

Patterson-UTI Energy 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.