Puts Purchased on Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN)

Shares of Patterson-UTI Energy PTEN are higher on the session by 0.37%, currently trading at $29.50. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past six months and is currently trading above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are buying puts on the name today. A short while ago the April 2011 $29.00 put was purchased 900 times, on the offer, on open interest of 30 contracts. The May $29 put also traded 827 times on open interest of 52 contracts. Overall put volume is now running at 3.20x the daily average with 100% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. 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 and western Canada.