Virgin Galactic Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SPCE)

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 82,593 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 85% compared to the typical daily volume of 44,613 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SPCE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Virgin Galactic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Virgin Galactic from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virgin Galactic has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.33.

Insider Activity at Virgin Galactic

In other news, Director Diana S. Strandberg purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.49 per share, for a total transaction of $49,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 70,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,615.70. This trade represents a 39.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in Virgin Galactic in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. acquired a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 46.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Virgin Galactic Stock Up 25.2%

NYSE:SPCE opened at $5.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.10. The company has a market cap of $593.51 million, a PE ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 2.71. Virgin Galactic has a twelve month low of $2.13 and a twelve month high of $8.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.05. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 103.89% and a negative net margin of 19,781.30%.The firm had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.20 million. Analysts anticipate that Virgin Galactic will post -2.59 EPS for the current year.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SPCE) is a commercial spaceflight company developing and operating spacecraft for private individuals and research customers. The firm’s primary business is suborbital human spaceflight, offering passengers a brief trip to the edge of space aboard its reusable spaceplane. In parallel, the company is building out infrastructure and support services for suborbital payload deployments and microgravity research missions.

The core flight system consists of a carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, which lifts the spaceplane SpaceShipTwo to high altitude before release.