Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Virgin Galactic Call Options (NYSE:SPCE)

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Virgin Galactic from $8.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Virgin Galactic from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Virgin Galactic presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diana S. Strandberg acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’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 purchase, the director owned 70,930 shares in the company, valued at $176,615.70. This trade represents a 39.27% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Virgin Galactic by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 5,205 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 6,143 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 76.6% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 7,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 40,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 7,282 shares during the last quarter. 46.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Virgin Galactic Trading Up 11.1%

NYSE SPCE opened at $4.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.07. Virgin Galactic has a twelve month low of $2.13 and a twelve month high of $8.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $461.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.05 and a beta of 2.71.

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

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.