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

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 25,697 Virgin Galactic call options on Monday, about 55% above the stock’s typical daily call volume. This suggests elevated bullish speculation in SPCE.
• Stock and financial snapshot: SPCE rose to $2.99 on Monday, with trading volume above average. The company remains deeply unprofitable, reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss but only $0.31 million in revenue.
• Wall Street remains cautious: Analyst sentiment is mixed to negative, with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.33. Recent reports included both modest target increases and downgrades to sell ratings.

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 25,697 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 55% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,586 call options.

Virgin Galactic Stock Performance

SPCE stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $2.99. The stock had a trading volume of 5,999,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,371,979. Virgin Galactic has a 52 week low of $2.13 and a 52 week high of $6.64. The stock's 50 day moving average is $2.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $243.01 million, a PE ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 2.18.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.98) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.14. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 106.67% and a negative net margin of 18,063.93%.The firm had revenue of $0.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.41 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($2.53) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Virgin Galactic will post -3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Virgin Galactic from $8.00 to $5.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Virgin Galactic from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Virgin Galactic currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $3.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the third quarter worth about $65,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic in the third quarter worth about $62,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 115,335.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,161 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 16,147 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Virgin Galactic by 44.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,845 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 6,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.62% of the company's stock.

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.

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