Benchmark Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean (NYSE:RIG)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

RIG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DNB Markets raised shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Transocean from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Transocean from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.43.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RIG traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.34. 2,954,409 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,411,156. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 2.75. Transocean has a fifty-two week low of $3.85 and a fifty-two week high of $6.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other Transocean news, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 91,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $376,139,312.22. This trade represents a 1.67 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total value of $85,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 310,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,576.53. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RIG. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in Transocean by 0.4% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,342,169 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $239,454,000 after buying an additional 222,680 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Transocean by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,725,995 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856,414 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Transocean by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,594,121 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $83,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,723 shares during the period. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Transocean in the third quarter valued at $77,473,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,245,298 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $73,307,000 after buying an additional 680,242 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.