MQS Management LLC Increases Position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 104.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,594 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,855 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Transocean were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RIG. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Transocean by 1.7% during the first quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 96,150 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 5.2% in the first quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,257 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Transocean by 8.6% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,237 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Transocean by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,714 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 48,200 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of Transocean stock opened at $4.54 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 2.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.98 and a 200 day moving average of $5.45. Transocean Ltd. has a 12 month low of $3.85 and a 12 month high of $8.71.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.25 million. Transocean had a negative net margin of 11.34% and a negative return on equity of 4.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.15) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup downgraded Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. DNB Markets raised shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set 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 assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.00.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In related news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika purchased 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.23 per share, for a total transaction of $10,460,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 89,574,894 shares in the company, valued at $468,476,695.62. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 89,574,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,476,695.62. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Perestroika bought 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $376,139,312.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Transocean 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.