4,428,928 Shares in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) Purchased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,428,928 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,608,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.51% of Transocean as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RIG. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Transocean during the third quarter worth about $68,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 152,149 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 5,636 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 valued at $83,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,723 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Transocean during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Transocean by 60.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,623,924 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $6,902,000 after purchasing an additional 609,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Transocean

In related news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total value of $84,700.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Transocean Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RIG opened at $2.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.47. Transocean Ltd. has a 52 week low of $1.97 and a 52 week high of $6.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of -3.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $3.05 and its 200-day moving average is $3.73.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 17th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.09) EPS 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 company had revenue of $952.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.28 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Transocean from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Transocean from $4.50 to $3.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Transocean from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.73.

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.