Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) Price Target to $13.00

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $14.00 to $13.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 50.81% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on PTEN. Citigroup dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays reduced their target price on Patterson-UTI Energy from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Patterson-UTI Energy from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.63.

Patterson-UTI Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ PTEN opened at $8.62 on Monday. Patterson-UTI Energy has a 12 month low of $7.15 and a 12 month high of $12.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 2.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Carl Stewart sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total transaction of $588,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,438 shares in the company, valued at $238,743.68. The trade was a 71.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Patterson-UTI Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PTEN. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,167,871 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,535,000 after purchasing an additional 559,859 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Patterson-UTI Energy by 7.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 683,621 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,640,000 after buying an additional 47,640 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $186,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Patterson-UTI Energy by 5.6% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 478,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Patterson-UTI Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.91% of the company’s stock.

Patterson-UTI Energy Company 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.