Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,129 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 84,813 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.07% of Patterson-UTI Energy worth $2,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the first quarter valued at about $85,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. Somerset Trust Co grew its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 17.2% in the first quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 28,345 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,170 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 1,567.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 111,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 105,025 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,770 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,719 shares in the last quarter. 97.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $7.88 per share, with a total value of $197,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,482,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,562,824.96. The trade was a 1.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Carl Stewart sold 5,500 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.98, for a total transaction of $32,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 999,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,978,528.92. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PTEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

PTEN stock opened at $5.93 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.43. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.12 and a 12-month high of $11.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.04. Patterson-UTI Energy had a negative net margin of 18.00% and a positive return on equity of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.31%.

Patterson-UTI Energy 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.