Transocean Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 47,633 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 80% compared to the typical volume of 26,444 call options.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other news, Director Frederik Wilhelm Mohn bought 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.05 per share, with a total value of $12,200,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 95,074,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,978,426.70. This trade represents a 4.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 53,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total value of $207,548.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 247,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $953,697.92. This represents a 17.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 12.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Josh Arnold Investment Consultant LLC bought a new stake in Transocean during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Transocean by 125.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,560 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 5,885 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Transocean in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Verum Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Transocean in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Transocean during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on RIG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Transocean from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.31.

Transocean Stock Up 6.2%

NYSE:RIG traded up $0.25 on Monday, hitting $4.23. The stock had a trading volume of 48,553,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,972,805. Transocean has a 1 year low of $1.97 and a 1 year high of $4.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.29 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.43% and a negative net margin of 75.71%.The company had revenue of ($1,894.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Transocean’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Transocean Company 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.