Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 46,178 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 353% compared to the average daily volume of 10,195 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered Patterson-UTI Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.67.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $2,204,254.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $128,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 596.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 518,075 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $7,170,000 after purchasing an additional 443,659 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,049 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 4,666 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,633,635 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $50,290,000 after buying an additional 1,012,802 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 18.5% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 405,018 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,605,000 after buying an additional 63,312 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $10.94. 6,055,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,623,409. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Patterson-UTI Energy has a fifty-two week low of $9.70 and a fifty-two week high of $16.17. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.23.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 7.13% and a net margin of 4.07%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

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.