Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 100,144 Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,389,689 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 100,144 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $15,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 74.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,194,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $597,807,000 after buying an additional 18,495,822 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $483,016,000. Cerberus Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $188,486,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 21,195.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,655,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $161,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,658 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,986,292 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $110,531,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. 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 report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.08.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

PTEN stock opened at $10.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $11.65 and its 200-day moving average is $11.52. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.70 and a twelve month high of $16.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 4.07%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $2,204,254.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.