Viking Fund Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Viking Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) by 44.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 80,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $85,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $142,000. Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 28,345 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,170 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 1,567.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 111,726 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 105,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,770 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PTEN has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.50.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 48,149 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,224.50. This represents a 36.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. acquired 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.88 per share, with a total value of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,482,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. The trade was a 1.02% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PTEN traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $5.57. 9,727,797 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,786,974. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.49. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.12 and a 1 year high of $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during 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 company's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently -12.31%.

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.