Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII)

Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE:OII) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 3,555 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 974% compared to the typical daily volume of 331 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on OII. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Oceaneering International from $39.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Oceaneering International from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Oceaneering International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Oceaneering International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Oceaneering International from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Insider Transactions at Oceaneering International

In other news, Director Paul B. Murphy, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.37, for a total value of $483,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 68,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,333,466.92. This represents a 12.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roderick A. Larson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.16, for a total value of $264,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 391,279 shares in the company, valued at $17,278,880.64. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,901 shares of company stock worth $1,542,864. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oceaneering International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OII. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Oceaneering International by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,081 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Oceaneering International during the third quarter valued at approximately $578,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oceaneering International by 12.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,006 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 2,743 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oceaneering International during the second quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Oceaneering International by 8.4% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,209 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Oceaneering International Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of OII stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.78. The stock had a trading volume of 865,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,854. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $48.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.74. Oceaneering International has a 52-week low of $22.13 and a 52-week high of $54.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $768.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.69 million. Oceaneering International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 18.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Oceaneering International will post 2.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Oceaneering International

Oceaneering International, Inc is a Houston-based technology and engineering company that provides products and services for subsea, offshore, aerospace and defense, and other industrial markets. Founded in 1969, the company is best known for its work in challenging underwater environments and serves customers involved in energy production, infrastructure, government programs, and industrial operations.

Oceaneering’s subsea businesses provide remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater technologies, subsea equipment, tooling, umbilicals, connectors, and intervention systems.