Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) saw strong trading volume on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. 16,027,314 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the previous session’s volume of 14,530,700 shares.The stock last traded at $5.53 and had previously closed at $4.71.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diana S. Strandberg acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.49 per share, with a total value of $49,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 70,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,615.70. This trade represents a 39.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SPCE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Virgin Galactic by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 5,205 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 34.1% in the third 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 44.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 6,143 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 76.6% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 7,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Virgin Galactic by 21.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 40,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 7,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Virgin Galactic Stock Up 18.9%

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 $563.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 2.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3.23 and its 200-day moving average is $3.08.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, equities analysts predict that Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. will post -2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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.