Notable Put Options Activity in Patterson-UTI Energy

Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy

are lower on the session by 2.06%, currently trading at $18.51. The stock has been moving largely lower over the past two weeks and is currently trading below the 50-day moving average. Options traders are focusing on puts today. The strike seeing the heaviest action is the March 2012 $20.00 put, which has traded 1,400 times on open interest of 1,351 contracts. The Mar2012 $19.00 put also traded 1,260 times on 4,249 contracts. Put volume is outpacing call volume by 10 to 1. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. owns and operates fleets of land-based drilling rigs in the United States. The company's contract drilling business operates primarily in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and western Canada.