Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 67,556 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 233% compared to the average daily volume of 20,260 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Transocean news, Director Chad Deaton purchased 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.95 per share, with a total value of $173,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 237,421 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,233.95. This trade represents a 17.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RIG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Transocean by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 48,819,576 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $323,682,000 after acquiring an additional 5,349,264 shares during the last quarter. Dalal Street LLC raised its position in shares of Transocean by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Dalal Street LLC now owns 27,040,133 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $111,676,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597,801 shares in the last quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Transocean during the first quarter valued at $103,606,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Transocean by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,797,180 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $94,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 3.3% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 12,656,881 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $83,915,000 after acquiring an additional 405,804 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Transocean Stock Performance

RIG traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $5.88. The stock had a trading volume of 35,803,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,416,691. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of -3.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.34. Transocean has a 1 year low of $3.03 and a 1 year high of $7.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.97.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.02. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 2.60% and a negative net margin of 40.24%.The business had revenue of $966.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Transocean will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on RIG. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Transocean currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.68.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) is an international offshore contract drilling company that provides drilling services to oil and gas companies. Its primary business is operating mobile offshore drilling units under contracts that support exploration, development and production activities in offshore oil and natural gas fields.

The company’s fleet is focused primarily on ultra-deepwater and harsh-environment drilling units, including drillships and semisubmersible rigs. Transocean provides rig operations, drilling personnel, equipment and related services intended to help customers safely construct and complete offshore wells.

Transocean serves energy companies in major offshore drilling regions around the world.