Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Raymond James

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) was downgraded by research analysts at Raymond James from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PTEN. Citigroup cut their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Patterson-UTI Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.63.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

Patterson-UTI Energy stock opened at $8.62 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Patterson-UTI Energy has a twelve month low of $7.15 and a twelve month high of $12.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total value of $588,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $238,743.68. The trade was a 71.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $525,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,176,294 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,186,000 after buying an additional 57,896 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $485,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 300,936 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after buying an additional 19,731 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $441,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

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.