Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN – Get Rating) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on PTEN. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Bank of America cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $13.50 in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Patterson-UTI Energy to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.75 in a research note on Tuesday, May 31st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Patterson-UTI Energy currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.13.

Patterson-UTI Energy Stock Performance

Shares of PTEN opened at $11.99 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.60 and a 200-day moving average of $15.58. Patterson-UTI Energy has a one year low of $6.70 and a one year high of $20.53. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -5.58 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 31st. Patterson-UTI Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -7.44%.

Insider Activity at Patterson-UTI Energy

In related news, insider James Michael Holcomb sold 8,333 shares of Patterson-UTI Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.31, for a total transaction of $135,911.23. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 356,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,813,569.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Patterson-UTI Energy news, insider James Michael Holcomb sold 8,333 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.31, for a total transaction of $135,911.23. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 356,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,813,569.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO William Andrew Hendricks, Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $1,376,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,801,374 shares in the company, valued at $24,786,906.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,666 shares of company stock valued at $1,645,239. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Patterson-UTI Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 81,385 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 5,730 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $19,956,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 40,572 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 305,417 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,270 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. 99.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Patterson-UTI Energy

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Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides onshore contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Contract Drilling Services, Pressure Pumping Services, and Directional Drilling Services. The Contract Drilling Services segment markets its contract drilling services primarily in west Texas, Appalachia, Rockies, Oklahoma, South Texas, East Texas, and Colombia.

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