Investors Buy Large Volume of Patterson-UTI Energy Call Options (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 32,699 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,343% compared to the typical volume of 2,266 call options.

Insider Transactions at Patterson-UTI Energy

In other news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 164,775 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.18, for a total transaction of $1,677,409.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tejara Capital Ltd increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 65.1% in the third quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 554,993 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,875,000 after buying an additional 218,856 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,489,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,717,000 after acquiring an additional 139,561 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 71.9% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 551,671 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 230,800 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 728.4% during the third quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 280,919 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 247,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,461,000. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PTEN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.11.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:PTEN traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,079,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,201,702. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.94 and a beta of 0.71. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 1-year low of $5.10 and a 1-year high of $11.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.92.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.09. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.94%.The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Patterson-UTI Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Patterson-UTI Energy will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Patterson-UTI Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -160.00%.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company Profile

Patterson-UTI Energy provides a comprehensive suite of onshore contract drilling and pressure pumping services to exploration and production companies in North America. The company’s core offerings include land-based drilling rigs, directional drilling, hydraulic fracturing services, downhole tool rental and well-servicing equipment. By integrating drilling and completion capabilities, Patterson-UTI Energy offers operators a streamlined solution designed to improve operational efficiency and well performance.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Patterson-UTI Energy traces its origins to its founding in 1978 and was later incorporated in Delaware in 1996.