Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $4.48 Million Holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) by 46.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 414,357 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 130,699 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy were worth $4,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 74.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,194,132 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $597,807,000 after purchasing an additional 18,495,822 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $483,016,000. Cerberus Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $188,486,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 21,195.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,655,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $161,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 60.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,986,292 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $110,531,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, Director Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 187,916 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $2,204,254.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,473,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,011,093.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

PTEN opened at $11.53 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.61. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.70 and a 12-month high of $16.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 2.21.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Patterson-UTI Energy had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 5.94%. Equities analysts predict that Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Patterson-UTI Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Patterson-UTI Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.50 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.17.

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.