Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) Trading Up 19.1% – What’s Next?

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) shares were up 19.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $5.18 and last traded at $5.1090. Approximately 25,585,725 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 96% from the average daily volume of 13,086,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SPCE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Virgin Galactic from $8.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Virgin Galactic from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.33.

Virgin Galactic Trading Down 7.7%

The firm has a market cap of $438.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.00 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.86) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.20 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 103.89% and a negative net margin of 19,781.30%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. will post -2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Virgin Galactic

In other Virgin Galactic news, Director Diana S. Strandberg bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.49 per share, with a total value of $49,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 70,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,615.70. This represents a 39.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 26.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 133,438 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 149.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 573,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 343,444 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 260,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 406,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 117,136 shares in the last quarter. 46.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.