Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Up 4.1% After Insider Buying Activity

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)’s share price shot up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider buying activity. The stock traded as high as $4.30 and last traded at $4.30. 2,614,398 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 18,211,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.13.

Specifically, Director Perestroika bought 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.13 per share, with a total value 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. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RIG. StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Transocean in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DNB Markets raised shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Transocean has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Transocean Stock Up 5.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of -8.98 and a beta of 2.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.46.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.07). Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 11.34%. The firm had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Transocean by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,982,142 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $433,208,000 after acquiring an additional 429,950 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Transocean by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,119,489 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $300,239,000 after acquiring an additional 375,450 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Transocean by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,334,990 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $290,984,000 after acquiring an additional 7,320,672 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Transocean by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,725,995 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 5,856,414 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Transocean by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,013,964 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $106,848,000 after buying an additional 1,105,747 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.