Susquehanna Cuts Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Price Target to $8.00

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $9.00 to $8.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "positive" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Susquehanna's target price would suggest a potential upside of 37.93% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $6.50 price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Up 4.1%

PTEN traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $5.80. 6,113,443 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,809,376. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.45. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $5.12 and a one year high of $11.27.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a positive return on equity of 0.81% and a negative net margin of 18.00%. Patterson-UTI Energy's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.98, for a total value of $32,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 999,754 shares in the company, valued at $5,978,528.92. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. acquired 25,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.88 per share, with a total value of $197,000.00. Following the purchase, 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. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTEN. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 18,749 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 7,705 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 19,576 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 2,141 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 317,122 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 196,300 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,743,241 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

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.