HighTower Advisors LLC Has $156,000 Stock Holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 44.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,753 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $182,518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123,659 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 9.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,435,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $118,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352,840 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,214,860 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $84,375,000 after purchasing an additional 8,254,137 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,980,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $68,717,000 after buying an additional 478,064 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,743,241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.88 per share, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,482,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,562,824.96. This represents a 1.02 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 230,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.89, for a total value of $2,044,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,549,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,771,330.09. This trade represents a 12.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Trading Down 18.3 %

NASDAQ PTEN opened at $5.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.53 and a 52 week high of $12.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.18. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 1.99.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -12.96%.

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.