Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Stock Holdings in Transocean Ltd. $RIG

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 6.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,916,902 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 200,128 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Transocean were worth $19,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RIG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,006,263 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $400,636,000 after buying an additional 2,487,015 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Transocean by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 43,470,312 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $179,531,000 after acquiring an additional 7,516,589 shares in the last quarter. Dalal Street LLC lifted its position in Transocean by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Dalal Street LLC now owns 27,040,133 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $111,676,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597,801 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Transocean by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,790,325 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $102,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,964 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Transocean by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,725,897 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $102,118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Transocean from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.82.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other news, Director Chad C. Deaton purchased 35,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,233.95. The trade was a 17.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of RIG stock opened at $5.24 on Wednesday. Transocean Ltd. has a one year low of $2.63 and a one year high of $7.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.80 and its 200 day moving average is $5.83. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Transocean had a negative net margin of 66.79% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Transocean

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean’s fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company’s core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.