Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Sells 51,500 Shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 74,506 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 51,500 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Transocean were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 15,908,217 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $101,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616,690 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Transocean by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,875,136 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock worth $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 246,832 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Transocean by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,852,752 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $64,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353,221 shares during the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Transocean by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 3,984,999 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock valued at $31,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH purchased a new stake in Transocean during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,946,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Transocean Trading Down 10.4 %

NYSE:RIG opened at $5.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.98. Transocean Ltd. has a one year low of $4.45 and a one year high of $8.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.03 and a beta of 2.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Transocean (NYSE:RIG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The offshore drilling services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $767.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.86 million. Transocean had a negative return on equity of 4.68% and a negative net margin of 13.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.38) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Transocean Ltd. will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Transocean to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Transocean from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Transocean from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on Transocean from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna raised Transocean from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $5.50 to $9.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Transocean currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.78.

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.