Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Given New $4.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $5.00 to $4.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Transocean from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Transocean from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price target 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. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six 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 a consensus price target of $5.03.

Transocean Stock Down 3.2 %

RIG stock opened at $3.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -4.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.72. Transocean has a 12 month low of $2.55 and a 12 month high of $6.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.90.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.11). Transocean had a negative return on equity of 0.52% and a negative net margin of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $952.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.28 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Transocean will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Transocean

In other news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total transaction of $84,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 313,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,205,327.20. The trade was a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,811,863 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $295,544,000 after acquiring an additional 931,684 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Transocean by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 40,008,596 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $150,029,000 after purchasing an additional 809,864 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Transocean by 11.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,594,121 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $83,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,723 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Transocean by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,257,437 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,542,271 shares during the period. Finally, Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Transocean in the third quarter valued at $77,473,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.