Investors Buy High Volume of Transocean Call Options (NYSE:RIG)

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 90,439 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 192% compared to the typical daily volume of 30,978 call options.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RIG opened at $5.27 on Thursday. Transocean has a 52-week low of $4.45 and a 52-week high of $8.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.10. Transocean had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 4.67%. The business had revenue of $767.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.38) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RIG. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Transocean by 1.7% in the first quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 96,150 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Transocean by 5.2% in the first quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,257 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 14,371 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Transocean by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,496 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,600 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Transocean from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $5.50 to $9.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Transocean from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.70.

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.