Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,356 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,225 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Transocean were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its stake in shares of Transocean by 949.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 126,006 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 114,000 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Transocean by 180.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 32,535 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 20,935 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP boosted its position in Transocean by 342.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,112,543 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $9,134,000 after purchasing an additional 861,209 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Transocean by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 14,371 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Clough Capital Partners L P boosted its position in Transocean by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 1,663,543 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $13,658,000 after purchasing an additional 178,100 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Trading Up 3.4 %

RIG opened at $6.24 on Tuesday. Transocean Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $4.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.10. Transocean had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 4.67%. The firm had revenue of $767.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.38) EPS. Transocean’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RIG shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Transocean in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Transocean from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $5.50 to $9.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Transocean from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Transocean has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika acquired 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.01 per share, for a total transaction of $12,020,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 87,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $526,325,112.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Transocean Company 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.