Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.3250.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SPCE. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Virgin Galactic to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Virgin Galactic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th.

Virgin Galactic Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPCE opened at $3.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.37 and a 200-day moving average of $3.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.96 million, a PE ratio of -0.76 and a beta of 2.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Virgin Galactic has a 12 month low of $2.13 and a 12 month high of $8.90.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $0.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.20 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative net margin of 19,781.30% and a negative return on equity of 103.89%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Virgin Galactic will post -2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Virgin Galactic

In related news, Director Diana S. Strandberg acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.49 per share, for a total transaction of $49,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 70,930 shares in the company, valued at $176,615.70. This trade represents a 39.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Virgin Galactic by 26.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,342,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,040,000 after acquiring an additional 496,373 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Virgin Galactic by 149.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 573,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 343,444 shares in the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Virgin Galactic during the fourth quarter worth $899,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Virgin Galactic by 118.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 479,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 260,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Virgin Galactic by 37,003.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 176,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 175,765 shares in the last quarter. 46.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.