Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its position in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,506 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Transocean were worth $113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Transocean by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Transocean by 18.3% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 2,606,017 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Transocean by 24.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,437,572 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $71,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Transocean by 7.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,606,320 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $49,327,000 after purchasing an additional 826,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 310,857 shares in the company, valued at $1,333,576.53. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Perestroika purchased 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.13 per share, with a total value of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,139,312.22. This represents a 1.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 13.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Transocean Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of RIG stock opened at $4.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.93. Transocean Ltd. has a 1-year low of $3.85 and a 1-year high of $6.88. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.84 and a beta of 2.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on RIG shares. Barclays cut their price target on Transocean from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark lowered Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Transocean from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.63.

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.