Traders Buy Large Volume of Transocean Call Options (NYSE:RIG)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 38,002 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 26% compared to the typical volume of 30,188 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RIG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Transocean from $3.50 to $4.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.32.

View Our Latest Report on RIG

Insider Transactions at Transocean

In other Transocean news, insider Jeremy D. Thigpen sold 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.32, for a total transaction of $2,160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,136,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,228,483.36. The trade was a 18.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 57,968 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total value of $260,856.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,303,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,866,717.50. This trade represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 11,000,000 shares of company stock worth $36,460,000 and sold 726,148 shares worth $3,115,783. 12.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Transocean by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 33,083 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 12,296 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Transocean in the third quarter worth approximately $3,978,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its position in Transocean by 9.8% during the third quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,499,280 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $10,943,000 after acquiring an additional 313,224 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Transocean in the third quarter valued at approximately $704,000. Finally, Maven Securities LTD bought a new stake in Transocean in the third quarter worth approximately $4,680,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE RIG traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.31. 22,638,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,475,363. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Transocean has a 1 year low of $1.97 and a 1 year high of $4.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.27.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of ($1,894.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.45% and a negative net margin of 75.71%.The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Transocean

(Get Free Report)

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.

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