Traders Purchase Large Volume of Transocean Call Options (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 105,437 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 149% compared to the average daily volume of 42,422 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $293,435.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,222,182 shares in the company, valued at $6,110,910. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total transaction of $498,433.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 268,025 shares in the company, valued at $1,704,639. This trade represents a 22.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,903 shares of company stock valued at $906,098. Insiders own 12.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monashee Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Transocean in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $936,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Transocean by 37.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 818,781 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 223,231 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the third quarter worth $5,162,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Transocean by 2,662.3% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,314 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,755 shares during the period. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new stake in Transocean in the third quarter valued at $18,720,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NYSE:RIG traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $6.50. The company had a trading volume of 30,277,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,817,324. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.06 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.38. Transocean has a one year low of $1.97 and a one year high of $6.96.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 73.52%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RIG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Fearnley Fonds lowered Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Transocean from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Transocean from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Transocean from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $4.50 to $6.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.38.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean’s fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company’s core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.