Transocean Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 75,236 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 259% compared to the typical daily volume of 20,949 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on RIG. DNB Markets raised shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Transocean in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Perestroika bought 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.13 per share, with a total value of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,139,312.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.23 per share, for a total transaction of $10,460,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 89,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $468,476,695.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 91,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $376,139,312.22. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Transocean by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,982,142 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $433,208,000 after buying an additional 429,950 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Transocean by 76.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 402,839 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 175,130 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Transocean by 3.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,437,730 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $9,029,000 after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Transocean by 199.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 522,973 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 348,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Transocean during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,521,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of Transocean stock opened at $4.67 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4.76 and a 200 day moving average of $5.38. Transocean has a 52 week low of $3.85 and a 52 week high of $8.03. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 2.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.25 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 11.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.15) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Transocean will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. The company operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, consisting of ultra-deepwater floaters and harsh environment floaters.