Transocean Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 38,002 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 26% compared to the average daily volume of 30,188 call options.

Transocean Stock Down 3.3%

RIG traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.31. 22,638,537 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 38,475,363. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.27. Transocean has a 12-month low of $1.97 and a 12-month high of $4.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.45% and a negative net margin of 75.71%.The company had revenue of ($1,894.00) million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RIG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Transocean from $3.50 to $4.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Transocean from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other Transocean news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika bought 4,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.05 per share, for a total transaction of $12,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 95,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $289,978,426.70. This represents a 4.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 57,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total value of $260,856.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,303,715 shares in the company, valued at $5,866,717.50. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 11,000,000 shares of company stock worth $36,460,000 and have sold 726,148 shares worth $3,115,783. 12.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

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

About Transocean

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.