Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys Shares of 3,024,044 Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,024,044 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,179,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Transocean by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,982,142 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $433,208,000 after acquiring an additional 429,950 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 50,699,389 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $321,941,000 after purchasing an additional 5,168,000 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 18.8% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,334,990 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $290,984,000 after purchasing an additional 7,320,672 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,690,620 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $226,641,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 7.0% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,013,964 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $106,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Trading Down 1.0 %

RIG traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,466,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,984,135. Transocean Ltd. has a twelve month low of $4.45 and a twelve month high of $8.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.96 and a beta of 2.85.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.07). Transocean had a negative net margin of 11.34% and a negative return on equity of 4.76%. The business had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. Transocean’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika bought 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 89,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $468,476,695.62. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on RIG shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Transocean from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Transocean in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.25.

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.