Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 77,238 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the typical volume of 49,581 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $498,433.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,704,639. This trade represents a 22.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RIG. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Transocean by 22,432.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,309 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 6,281 shares in the last quarter. Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC bought a new position in Transocean during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Transocean during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Transocean during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RIG traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $7.58. 61,510,541 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 42,290,496. Transocean has a 52 week low of $2.34 and a 52 week high of $7.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.29. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 1.34.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.10). Transocean had a negative net margin of 66.79% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RIG. Fearnley Fonds cut shares of Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Pareto Securities cut shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $5.25 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Transocean from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $6.00 to $8.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Transocean has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.96.

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.