Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.20.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SPCE. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a report on Friday, November 14th. Susquehanna set a $3.50 price objective on Virgin Galactic in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $2.30 target price on shares of Virgin Galactic and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th.

Virgin Galactic Stock Performance

NYSE SPCE opened at $2.51 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.34 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Virgin Galactic has a 1 year low of $2.18 and a 1 year high of $6.64.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SPCE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,342,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,040,000 after acquiring an additional 496,373 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 149.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 573,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 343,444 shares in the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Virgin Galactic in the fourth quarter valued at about $899,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 118.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 479,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 260,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 37,003.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 176,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 175,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

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.