Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 65,123,038 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 600% from the previous session’s volume of 9,304,200 shares.The stock last traded at $8.6920 and had previously closed at $6.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Virgin Galactic from $8.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.33.

Virgin Galactic Trading Up 15.0%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $2.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.01. 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 cap of $715.83 million, a P/E ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 2.70.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diana S. Strandberg bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.49 per share, with a total value of $49,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 70,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,615.70. The trade was a 39.27% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 287.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 187,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 139,107 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 1,077.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 21,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 19,302 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. bought a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Themes Management Co LLC bought a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

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.