Transocean Ltd. $RIG Stake Boosted by Essex LLC

Essex LLC boosted its stake in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,366 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,255 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Transocean were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 111.8% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 23,490 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Transocean during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Transocean during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 23.2% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,081 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 150.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,396 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 10,451 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Transocean Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE RIG opened at $3.13 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.83. Transocean Ltd. has a 52 week low of $1.97 and a 52 week high of $4.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.68, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 2.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RIG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Transocean from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Transocean from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other Transocean news, Director Frederik Wilhelm Mohn purchased 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.05 per share, for a total transaction of $12,200,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 95,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $289,978,426.70. This trade represents a 4.39% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 4,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.05 per share, with a total value of $12,200,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 95,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $289,978,426.70. The trade was a 4.39% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.54% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Profile

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.