Transocean Ltd. $RIG Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its Transocean stake by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, adding more than 523,000 shares and bringing its position to 2.09 million shares worth about $8.6 million.
• Transocean reported mixed quarterly results: revenue of $1.08 billion topped expectations, but adjusted EPS of -$0.03 missed analyst estimates of $0.07. Revenue was up 19.3% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.96, though recent moves included a Barclays upgrade to “overweight.”

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Free Report) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,085,842 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 523,528 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.19% of Transocean worth $8,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fruth Investment Management boosted its position in Transocean by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 90,378 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Transocean by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 35,604 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,932 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Transocean by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 100,634 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,367 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its position in Transocean by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 29,000 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Transocean by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 24,175 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Transocean Stock Performance

NYSE:RIG opened at $6.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.44. The stock has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 1.34. Transocean Ltd. has a 1-year low of $2.47 and a 1-year high of $7.66.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Transocean from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Transocean in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Clarkson Capital cut shares of Transocean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays raised shares of Transocean from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 78,370 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 268,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,704,639. The trade was a 22.62% 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. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

About Transocean

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RIG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.