Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $8.00 target price on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on RIG. Bank of America lifted their target price on Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Transocean from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Transocean from a neutral rating to a positive rating and upped their target price for the stock from $5.50 to $9.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $7.70.

Transocean Stock Up 10.6 %

Shares of NYSE:RIG opened at $5.82 on Thursday. Transocean has a fifty-two week low of $4.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.56.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.10. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.67% and a negative net margin of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $767.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Transocean will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.01 per share, for a total transaction of $12,020,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 87,574,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $526,325,112.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Transocean by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 96,150 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Transocean by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,257 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Transocean by 8.6% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,237 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,496 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,714 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.