State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Makes New $2.16 Million Investment in Transocean Ltd. $RIG

Key Points

• State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D opened a new position in Transocean during the fourth quarter, buying 522,242 shares worth about $2.16 million.
• Analysts remain mixed on Transocean: Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight and lifted its target to $8, while other firms issued more cautious views. The consensus rating is currently Hold with an average price target of $6.96.
• Transocean reported quarterly earnings of ($0.03) per share, missing estimates, though revenue came in at $1.08 billion and rose 19.3% year over year. The company also saw an insider sale by EVP Roderick James Mackenzie of 78,370 shares.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 522,242 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,157,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Transocean by 22,432.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,309 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Transocean in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Transocean in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Forteris Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Transocean during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RIG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised shares of Transocean from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Thursday. Pareto Securities cut Transocean from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $5.25 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Transocean from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Fearnley Fonds cut Transocean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.36, for a total value of $498,433.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,704,639. The trade was a 22.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of RIG opened at $6.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 1.34. Transocean Ltd. has a 12 month low of $2.34 and a 12 month high of $7.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.10). Transocean had a negative net margin of 66.79% and a positive return on equity of 0.88%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Transocean Company Profile

Transocean Ltd. is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for the oil and gas industry. The company specializes in the operation of mobile drilling units, including ultra-deepwater drillships, semisubmersible rigs and high-specification jackup rigs. Transocean's fleet is designed to meet complex drilling requirements, from ultra-deepwater well construction to shelf exploration and development projects.

The company's core services encompass the full spectrum of offshore drilling operations, including project and engineering management, marine operations, drilling supervision, and maintenance support.

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