Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG – Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 75,236 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 259% compared to the average daily volume of 20,949 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Read Our Latest Report on RIG

Transocean Stock Up 2.0 %

Transocean stock opened at $4.67 on Friday. Transocean has a 12 month low of $3.85 and a 12 month high of $8.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of -8.98 and a beta of 2.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.38.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.25 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 11.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Transocean will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RIG. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in shares of Transocean during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 138.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,633 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Fiducient Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean during the 1st quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Transocean in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Transocean

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading