Investors Buy High Volume of Virgin Galactic Call Options (NYSE:SPCE)

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 24,209 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 167% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,061 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPCE. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the third quarter worth about $70,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Virgin Galactic during the third quarter valued at $80,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Virgin Galactic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $145,000. Institutional investors own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Virgin Galactic Trading Up 9.2 %

Shares of NYSE SPCE traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,688,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,867. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.55. Virgin Galactic has a 1 year low of $5.06 and a 1 year high of $43.20. 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 market cap of $162.45 million, a P/E ratio of -0.33 and a beta of 1.72.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($2.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.10) by $1.44. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 88.09% and a negative net margin of 3,975.27%. The firm had revenue of $0.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($5.60) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Virgin Galactic will post -16.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Virgin Galactic Company Profile

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.