Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 47,633 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 80% compared to the average volume of 26,444 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on RIG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Transocean from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Keelan Adamson sold 40,942 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.00, for a total value of $163,768.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,370,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,480,608. The trade was a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 53,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $207,548.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 247,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $953,697.92. This trade represents a 17.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 12.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Transocean in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Transocean by 37.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 818,781 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $2,555,000 after buying an additional 223,231 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the 3rd quarter valued at about $78,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Transocean during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Transocean by 93.7% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 304,694 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 147,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Stock Up 6.2%

Shares of RIG traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $4.23. The company had a trading volume of 48,553,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,972,805. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.29 and a beta of 2.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.00. Transocean has a 52 week low of $1.97 and a 52 week high of $4.57.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. Transocean had a positive return on equity of 0.43% and a negative net margin of 75.71%.The business had revenue of ($1,894.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

About Transocean

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.