Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Buys 162,800 Shares of Transocean Ltd. $RIG

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 162,800 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $853,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RIG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 5,349,264 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,148,850 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $132,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166,646 shares during the period. Elliott Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Transocean in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $103,606,000. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 12,656,881 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $83,915,000 after purchasing an additional 405,804 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 67.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,698,827 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $37,783,000 after buying an additional 2,303,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE RIG traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.62. The stock had a trading volume of 51,084,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,059,328. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of -2.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.41. Transocean Ltd. has a 12 month low of $3.14 and a 12 month high of $7.66.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Fearnley Fonds raised Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.68.

Transocean Profile

Transocean Ltd. is an offshore contract drilling company that provides drilling services to the international oil and gas industry. The company operates a fleet of mobile offshore drilling units, including ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment drillships and semisubmersible rigs, which are contracted by energy companies to drill exploration, appraisal and development wells.

Transocean’s services support offshore drilling programs in challenging environments around the world. Its operations have included activity in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, the North Sea, West Africa and other major offshore regions.