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

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $9.00 to $8.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "positive" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Susquehanna's price target indicates a potential upside of 43.63% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:PTEN traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5.57. The stock had a trading volume of 9,727,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,789,094. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $5.12 and a one year high of $11.27. 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 company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50 day moving average is $5.98 and its 200-day moving average is $7.47.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 48,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.42, for a total value of $357,265.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,475 shares in the company, valued at $634,224.50. This trade represents a 36.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. purchased 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased 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 owns 2,482,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. The trade was a 1.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTEN. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 69.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,254,137 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 317,122 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 196,300 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.