Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 467.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,558,199 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,283,684 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $12,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,096,553 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $182,518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123,659 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its stake in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 10,214,860 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $84,375,000 after acquiring an additional 8,254,137 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,636,471 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $79,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,094 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,980,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $68,717,000 after purchasing an additional 478,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 31.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,743,241 shares during the period. 97.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PTEN. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.21.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock opened at $5.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.04. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.12 and a fifty-two week high of $11.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.34 and a beta of 1.60.

Patterson-UTI Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.96%.

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.