Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.74 Million Investment in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 160,800 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,737,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the third quarter worth about $25,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 40.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 157.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,804 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 635.8% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,002 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares in the company, valued at $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $11.51. The company had a trading volume of 4,694,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,494,536. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 2.21. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.70 and a 52 week high of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 10.00%. Research analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.68%.

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.