HighVista Strategies LLC Sells 16,200 Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

HighVista Strategies LLC cut its holdings in Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,725 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 16,200 shares during the period. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in Transocean were worth $1,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RIG. SCP Investment LP purchased a new position in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 249,431 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $1,584,000 after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in Transocean during the fourth quarter valued at $151,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Transocean by 114,684.6% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 29,844 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 29,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Transocean by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 2,640,000 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $16,764,000 after purchasing an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on RIG shares. StockNews.com upgraded Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Transocean from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Transocean in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DNB Markets upgraded shares of Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Transocean presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika bought 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 89,574,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,476,695.62. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director (Cyprus) Ltd Perestroika purchased 2,000,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.23 per share, with a total value of $10,460,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 89,574,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,476,695.62. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Perestroika purchased 1,500,000 shares of Transocean stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 91,074,894 shares in the company, valued at $376,139,312.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Transocean Stock Performance

Shares of RIG opened at $4.54 on Monday. Transocean Ltd. has a twelve month low of $3.85 and a twelve month high of $8.71. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.73 and a beta of 2.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.45.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.07). Transocean had a negative net margin of 11.34% and a negative return on equity of 4.76%. The firm had revenue of $861.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $862.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Transocean Ltd. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

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.