Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 40,078 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 414% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,801 put options.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $2,204,254.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,011,093.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WBI Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy during the third quarter worth $1,610,000. Walleye Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,830,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,559,482 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,424,000 after acquiring an additional 425,975 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 73.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 784,788 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,861,000 after buying an additional 331,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 93.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 69,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 33,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ PTEN traded down $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $11.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,688,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,774,456. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 52-week low of $9.70 and a 52-week high of $16.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.22.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s payout ratio is currently 31.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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, StockNews.com raised Patterson-UTI Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.33.

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.