Abel Hall LLC Takes Position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,351 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings 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 worth $239,454,000 after buying an additional 222,680 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,725,995 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 5,856,414 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,944,723 shares during the period. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Transocean during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,473,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Transocean by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,858,264 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $90,192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Transocean

In other Transocean news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.29, for a total transaction of $85,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Perestroika purchased 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,139,312.22. The trade was a 1.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on RIG. Citigroup cut Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Transocean from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Transocean from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, DNB Markets raised shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.25.

Transocean Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of RIG opened at $4.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.82. Transocean Ltd. has a twelve month low of $3.85 and a twelve month high of $6.88.

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.