Transocean Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 80,777 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 69% compared to the typical daily volume of 47,808 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RIG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Transocean from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Fearnley Fonds downgraded Transocean from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Transocean from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.86.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of RIG traded down $0.24 on Monday, reaching $6.25. The stock had a trading volume of 36,295,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,868,664. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of -1.98 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Transocean has a twelve month low of $1.97 and a twelve month high of $6.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.00 and a 200 day moving average of $4.10.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.07). Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 73.52%.The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Transocean will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 35,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.48, for a total value of $156,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 212,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $950,082.56. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 58,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $293,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,222,182 shares in the company, valued at $6,110,910. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,970 shares of company stock worth $863,432. Insiders own 12.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Transocean by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 69,637 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 7,520 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Transocean by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 434,031 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,957 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Transocean by 88.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,151,817 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $38,521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,637 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 150.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,396 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 10,451 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 211.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,208 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 15,086 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.