JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Transocean (NYSE:RIG) to “Neutral”

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Transocean (NYSE:RIG) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $5.00 target price on the offshore drilling services provider’s stock.

RIG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Transocean in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Transocean from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Transocean from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. DNB Markets upgraded Transocean from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut Transocean from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Transocean has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.25.

Transocean Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of RIG opened at $4.02 on Friday. Transocean has a twelve month low of $3.85 and a twelve month high of $6.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -5.36 and a beta of 2.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.82.

Insider Activity

In other Transocean news, EVP Roderick James Mackenzie sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 310,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,576.53. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Perestroika acquired 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.13 per share, for a total transaction of $6,195,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 91,074,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,139,312.22. The trade was a 1.67 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 13.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Transocean

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIG. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Transocean by 138.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,633 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Transocean in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Transocean in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Transocean in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Transocean by 34.0% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 15,877 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 4,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.