Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Transocean from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Transocean from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Transocean from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Transocean in a research report on Friday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.89.

Transocean Stock Performance

NYSE RIG opened at $6.89 on Wednesday. Transocean has a 1 year low of $3.58 and a 1 year high of $8.88. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of -4.25 and a beta of 2.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $7.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 30th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.14). Transocean had a negative net margin of 44.49% and a negative return on equity of 9.76%. The firm had revenue of $713.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $738.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.06) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Transocean will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David A. Tonnel sold 57,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.22, for a total transaction of $470,668.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 417,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,434,225.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Transocean by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,315,980 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $148,981,000 after purchasing an additional 5,165,717 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,992,307 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $178,031,000 after acquiring an additional 10,962,276 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 177.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 27,596,879 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $193,454,000 after acquiring an additional 17,650,829 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 61.8% during the 1st quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 23,094,545 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $146,881,000 after acquiring an additional 8,820,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Transocean by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,812,807 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $138,867,000 after acquiring an additional 266,743 shares during the last quarter. 66.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It contracts its mobile offshore drilling rigs, related equipment, and work crews to drill oil and gas wells. It serves integrated energy companies, government-owned or government-controlled energy companies, and other independent energy companies.