Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,743,758 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $14,403,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned approximately 0.45% of Patterson-UTI Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,214,860 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $84,375,000 after acquiring an additional 8,254,137 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 7,989,877 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,817,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $182,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,659 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,321,667 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $60,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PTEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.32.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

PTEN stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.03. The stock had a trading volume of 11,458,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,082,752. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.84. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.12 and a 52 week high of $11.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 1.33.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy's payout ratio is -12.31%.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. purchased 25,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $7.88 per share, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,482,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. This trade represents a 1.02 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.89, for a total transaction of $2,044,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,549,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,771,330.09. This trade represents a 12.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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.