Franklin Resources Inc. Takes $157,000 Position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 36,948 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $157,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RIG. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Transocean by 10.9% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,170 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Transocean by 138.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,693 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $62,000 after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 36.1% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,065 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 4,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 60,100 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Transocean Stock Up 5.3 %

Shares of NYSE RIG opened at $3.95 on Friday. Transocean Ltd. has a 12 month low of $3.40 and a 12 month high of $6.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of -5.27 and a beta of 2.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on RIG shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $4.50 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup downgraded Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Transocean presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.25.

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.