Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

SPCE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Virgin Galactic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Virgin Galactic from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.43.

Virgin Galactic Trading Down 3.3%

SPCE stock opened at $2.49 on Friday. Virgin Galactic has a twelve month low of $2.13 and a twelve month high of $8.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.57 and a beta of 2.74. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.95.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Diana S. Strandberg bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.49 per share, with a total value of $49,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 70,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,615.70. This trade represents a 39.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Virgin Galactic by 284.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 90,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 67,303 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,282 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 77.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 16,369 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 6,143 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Virgin Galactic in the second quarter worth approximately $195,000. 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.