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

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 24,152 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 63% compared to the typical volume of 14,828 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Virgin Galactic during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Pitcairn Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Virgin Galactic during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in Virgin Galactic in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SPCE. Susquehanna set a $3.50 price target on Virgin Galactic in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $2.30 target price on Virgin Galactic and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.20.

Virgin Galactic Stock Down 1.9%

Virgin Galactic stock opened at $2.55 on Wednesday. Virgin Galactic has a fifty-two week low of $2.18 and a fifty-two week high of $6.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.34 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.36.

Virgin Galactic Company Profile

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.