Bank of America Corp DE Reduces Holdings in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Free Report) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 897,316 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock after selling 294,386 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.10% of Transocean worth $3,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Transocean during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in Transocean by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Transocean by 96.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,841 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 4,826 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Transocean in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Transocean during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Transocean Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of RIG stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.63. 46,763,196 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,861,653. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.60, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Transocean Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $1.97 and a fifty-two week high of $5.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.26.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $906.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.92 million. Transocean had a negative net margin of 14.53% and a negative return on equity of 0.52%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.23, for a total value of $49,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 362,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $809,135.43. This trade represents a 5.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on RIG shares. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. BTIG Research set a $5.00 target price on Transocean and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.58.

Transocean 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.