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

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 67,556 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 233% compared to the average daily volume of 20,260 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Chad Deaton bought 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.95 per share, for a total transaction of $173,250.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 237,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,233.95. The trade was a 17.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RIG. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Transocean by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,085,842 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $8,615,000 after purchasing an additional 523,528 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the second quarter worth approximately $37,477,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Transocean during the 4th quarter valued at $2,338,000. Elliott Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Transocean in the first quarter worth about $103,606,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Transocean by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 48,819,576 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $323,682,000 after acquiring an additional 5,349,264 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RIG. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.68.

Transocean Stock Performance

NYSE RIG traded up $0.43 on Tuesday, hitting $5.88. 35,803,282 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 40,416,691. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.97. Transocean has a 52-week low of $3.03 and a 52-week high of $7.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.34.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.02. Transocean had a negative net margin of 40.24% and a positive return on equity of 2.60%. The business had revenue of $966.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $956.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.06) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Transocean will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) is an international offshore contract drilling company that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies. Its primary business is operating mobile offshore drilling units under contracts that support exploration, development and production activities in offshore oil and natural gas fields.

The company’s fleet is focused primarily on ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment drilling units, including drillships and semisubmersible rigs. Transocean provides rig operations, drilling personnel, equipment and related services intended to help customers safely construct and complete offshore wells.

Transocean serves energy companies in major offshore drilling regions around the world.