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. Stock investors acquired 25,417 call options on the company. This is an increase of 137% compared to the average daily volume of 10,719 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $41.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $4.00 to $3.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corebridge Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 13,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,942 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 18,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 39,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Virgin Galactic Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of SPCE stock opened at $3.41 on Friday. Virgin Galactic has a 52-week low of $2.18 and a 52-week high of $23.00. The stock has a market cap of $121.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.20 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a current ratio of 4.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.03 and a 200-day moving average of $4.75.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported ($2.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.23) by ($0.15). Virgin Galactic had a negative net margin of 3,975.27% and a negative return on equity of 88.09%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Virgin Galactic will post -16.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc, an aerospace and space travel company, focuses on the development, manufacture, and operation of spaceships and related technologies. The company engages in the design and development, manufacturing, ground and flight testing, spaceflight operation, and post-flight maintenance of spaceflight systems for private individuals, researchers, and government agencies.