Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Stock Price

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $5.00 to $4.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on RIG. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price target on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.03.

Transocean Stock Up 2.3 %

Transocean stock opened at $3.30 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.91. Transocean has a 1-year low of $2.55 and a 1-year high of $6.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.51, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.28 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 0.52% and a negative net margin of 14.53%. Equities research analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.05, for a total transaction of $89,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 229,596 shares in the company, valued at $929,863.80. This trade represents a 8.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Transocean

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RIG. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of Transocean by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 8,400 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Transocean by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,247 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,963 shares in the last quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. raised its position in Transocean by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 28,155 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Transocean by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,332 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Transocean by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 32,651 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.