Barclays Cuts Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Price Target to $3.50

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

RIG has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 price target on shares of Transocean in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.98.

Transocean Trading Up 7.1 %

Shares of RIG opened at $2.33 on Monday. Transocean has a 12-month low of $1.97 and a 12-month high of $6.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.05, for a total value of $89,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 229,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,863.80. This trade represents a 8.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RIG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Transocean by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,465,534 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $46,746,000 after buying an additional 859,214 shares during the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Transocean by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,706,143 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 324,955 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Transocean by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,245,298 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $73,307,000 after purchasing an additional 680,242 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Transocean by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,393,873 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 3,895,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Transocean by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 499,801 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 100,691 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.