Senator Investment Group LP Sells 7,190,957 Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Senator Investment Group LP lessened its holdings in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 95.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,043 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 7,190,957 shares during the quarter. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Transocean were worth $1,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RIG. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Transocean by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,014,318 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $247,741,000 after buying an additional 10,049,077 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Transocean by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,725,995 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,414 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Transocean by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,552,192 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $435,306,000 after buying an additional 4,107,956 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the second quarter valued at $16,179,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Transocean by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,437,572 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $71,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,615 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Trading Up 3.4 %

Transocean stock opened at $4.31 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.29 and a beta of 2.79. Transocean Ltd. has a 52 week low of $3.85 and a 52 week high of $8.60. 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 earnings results 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). Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $861.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.25 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.15) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on RIG shares. DNB Markets raised Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Transocean in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.00.

Insider Transactions at Transocean

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

About Transocean

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.