Capital World Investors Trims Stock Holdings in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Capital World Investors reduced its stake in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,222,614 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 8,038,055 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned 4.59% of Transocean worth $150,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Transocean by 19.4% during 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 during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Transocean by 25.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 107,012 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Transocean by 96.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,841 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 4,826 shares during the period. Finally, Southern Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Transocean by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Southern Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,001 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Stock Up 5.3 %

Shares of NYSE:RIG opened at $2.28 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.12, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.29. Transocean Ltd. has a 12 month low of $1.97 and a 12 month high of $6.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.67.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RIG. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Transocean from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. SEB Equity Research set a $2.80 target price on shares of Transocean in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their target price for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.59.

Insider Transactions at Transocean

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.23, for a total value of $49,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 362,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,135.43. This trade represents a 5.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Profile

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.