Morgan Stanley Cuts Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Price Target to $4.00

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $5.00 to $4.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price target on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.03.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of Transocean stock opened at $3.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -4.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. Transocean has a 12 month low of $2.55 and a 12 month high of $6.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.90.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.28 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 0.52% and a negative net margin of 14.53%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.05, for a total transaction of $89,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 229,596 shares in the company, valued at $929,863.80. This represents a 8.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Transocean in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in Transocean by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Transocean by 96.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,841 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 4,826 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC acquired a new position in Transocean in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Transocean during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.