Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Shares Up 9% – Time to Buy?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was up 9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $4.35 and last traded at $4.34. Approximately 21,783,191 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 18,362,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RIG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Transocean from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.63.

Transocean Stock Down 2.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.25 million. Transocean had a negative net margin of 18.81% and a negative return on equity of 1.48%. Transocean’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other Transocean news, Director Perestroika purchased 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.13 per share, with a total value of $6,195,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,139,312.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 13.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,237 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 98,650 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Transocean by 138.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,633 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Transocean by 0.4% in the second quarter. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. now owns 1,014,269 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $5,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Transocean by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,065 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 4,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.