Barclays PLC Buys 609,681 Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,623,924 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 609,681 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.19% of Transocean worth $6,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Transocean by 555.6% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 652,578 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $2,773,000 after acquiring an additional 553,033 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC grew its stake in Transocean by 225.6% in the third quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 679,750 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after acquiring an additional 470,950 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Transocean by 34.0% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 15,877 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Transocean by 11.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,594,121 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $83,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,723 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total transaction of $85,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 310,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,576.53. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on RIG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $4.50 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.25.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of RIG opened at $3.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.21 and a 200 day moving average of $4.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Transocean Ltd. has a 12 month low of $3.54 and a 12 month high of $6.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.83 and a beta of 2.75.

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.