Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Transocean Ltd. $RIG

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake in Transocean by 2.6% in Q4 to 97,006,263 shares, representing about 8.81% ownership worth roughly $400.6 million.
• Transocean reported Q results with EPS of -$0.03 (missing the $0.07 estimate) while revenue of $1.08 billion beat estimates and rose 19.3% year-over-year.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $6.96, though several firms have recently raised targets to around $7–$8 and analyst ratings are split (3 Buy, 5 Hold, 3 Sell).

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,006,263 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,487,015 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.81% of Transocean worth $400,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RIG. Directional Asset Management bought a new stake in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at $158,000. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at $127,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Transocean by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 286,332 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $1,183,000 after buying an additional 20,893 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Transocean by 360.1% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 60,135 shares of the offshore drilling services provider's stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 47,064 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on RIG shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Transocean from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Transocean from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays raised Transocean from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Clarkson Capital lowered Transocean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.96.

Transocean Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of RIG stock opened at $6.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.14. Transocean Ltd. has a 12-month low of $2.27 and a 12-month high of $7.14. The firm has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.09 and a beta of 1.34.

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 positive return on equity of 0.88% and a negative net margin of 66.79%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 268,025 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.

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