Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 20,382 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 90,338 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 20,382 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Phocas Financial Corp. raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 592,233 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,396,000 after acquiring an additional 123,633 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,737,000. Clarus Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Clarus Group Inc. now owns 46,123 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the fourth quarter worth $111,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 162.6% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,908 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 20,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $2,204,254.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,473,239 shares in the company, valued at $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

PTEN stock opened at $11.25 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 2.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.73 and a 200-day moving average of $11.57. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.70 and a fifty-two week high of $16.17.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is presently 31.68%.

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.