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

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 23,823 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 63% compared to the average volume of 14,651 call options.

Virgin Galactic Price Performance

Shares of SPCE stock traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, hitting $0.89. 42,301,165 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,005,721. The firm has a market cap of $355.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.56 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.82. Virgin Galactic has a 52 week low of $0.70 and a 52 week high of $6.17.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by $0.05. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 102.01% and a negative net margin of 7,387.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Virgin Galactic will post -0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $1.75 to $1.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.30.

Institutional Trading of Virgin Galactic

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SPCE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Virgin Galactic by 29.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,165,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,298,000 after acquiring an additional 6,823,646 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,707,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,632,000 after acquiring an additional 349,300 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Virgin Galactic by 6.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 958,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 59,159 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 44.2% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 817,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 250,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Virgin Galactic by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 800,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 291,757 shares during the last quarter. 46.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.