Hosking Partners LLP Buys 444,521 Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Key Points

• Hosking Partners LLP increased its stake in Transocean Ltd. by 26.1%, owning approximately 2.15 million shares worth $6.8 million after purchasing 444,521 additional shares in Q1.
• Several institutional investors, including Parallel Advisors LLC and Optiver Holding B.V., have also significantly boosted their holdings in Transocean, marking a trend where 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Analyst ratings for Transocean have varied, with a recent downgrade from Susquehanna setting a price target of $4.00, while Morgan Stanley set a lower target of $3.50, indicating a mix of optimism and caution in the market.

Hosking Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Free Report) by 26.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,150,664 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 444,521 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP owned about 0.24% of Transocean worth $6,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of RIG. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Transocean by 154.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,810 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RIG shares. Wall Street Zen raised Transocean from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Barclays set a $4.00 price objective on Transocean and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research set a $5.00 price objective on Transocean and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Transocean currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.26.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RIG traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,264,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,580,602. Transocean Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $1.97 and a fifty-two week high of $5.26. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.52. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $2.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.88.

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.