Transocean Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 20,324 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 32% compared to the average volume of 15,440 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RIG. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.05, for a total value of $89,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 229,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,863.80. This trade represents a 8.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIG. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Transocean in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Transocean by 96.2% during the 4th 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 bought a new position in Transocean in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Transocean in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RIG opened at $2.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -4.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.70. Transocean has a 1 year low of $2.95 and a 1 year high of $6.88.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Transocean had a negative net margin of 14.53% and a negative return on equity of 0.52%. The firm had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.28 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.