Northern Trust Corp Has $35.43 Million Position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,288,829 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 170,417 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.11% of Patterson-UTI Energy worth $35,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARGA Investment Management LP raised 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 worth $84,375,000 after buying an additional 8,254,137 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 89.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $52,817,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $182,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,659 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,321,667 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $60,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,241 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ PTEN traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $6.37. 15,722,151 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,307,561. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.12 and a 52-week high of $11.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.75.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 18.00% and a positive return on equity of 0.81%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Patterson-UTI Energy's payout ratio is -12.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PTEN. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective 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. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reduced 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 report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 1,549,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,771,330.09. This represents a 12.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 48,149 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.42, for a total transaction of $357,265.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,475 shares in the company, valued at $634,224.50. This represents a 36.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.