Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Trading 1.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $3.56 and last traded at $3.53. 13,408,211 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 18,729,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on RIG. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Transocean from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $4.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Transocean from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Transocean currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.25.

Transocean Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.71 and a beta of 2.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total value of $85,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 310,857 shares in the company, valued at $1,333,576.53. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 12.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Transocean

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RIG. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Transocean by 0.4% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 56,342,169 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $239,454,000 after acquiring an additional 222,680 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Transocean by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,725,995 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $196,484,000 after buying an additional 5,856,414 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Transocean by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,594,121 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $83,275,000 after buying an additional 1,944,723 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Transocean in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,473,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Transocean by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,245,298 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $73,307,000 after buying an additional 680,242 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.