Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 6,845 Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,508 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 6,845 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Transocean were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in Transocean by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. increased its holdings in Transocean by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 28,155 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Transocean by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 32,651 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Transocean by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 19,015 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Transocean by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 107,012 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Stock Down 1.1%

RIG opened at $2.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.07. Transocean Ltd. has a 52 week low of $1.97 and a 52 week high of $5.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of -2.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $906.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $884.92 million. Transocean had a negative net margin of 18.79% and a negative return on equity of 0.94%. The business’s revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. Analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.78, for a total value of $61,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 340,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $947,537.98. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 12.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BTIG Research set a $5.00 price objective on Transocean and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.58.

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.