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

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 35,041 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 92% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,207 call options.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,342,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,040,000 after acquiring an additional 496,373 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Virgin Galactic by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 727,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 133,438 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the third quarter worth about $432,000. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the third quarter worth about $401,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic in the third quarter valued at approximately $386,000. 46.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Virgin Galactic Trading Up 7.1%

Shares of Virgin Galactic stock opened at $2.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $198.18 million, a PE ratio of -0.36 and a beta of 2.21. Virgin Galactic has a 1 year low of $2.18 and a 1 year high of $6.64. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.46.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.51) by $0.42. The company had revenue of $0.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.32 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative net margin of 17,615.71% and a negative return on equity of 108.00%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Virgin Galactic will post -16.05 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.