Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires Shares of 12,199 Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Virgin Galactic during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Virgin Galactic during the third quarter worth about $70,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Virgin Galactic in the second quarter worth about $98,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Virgin Galactic in the second quarter valued at about $145,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Virgin Galactic by 29.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 5,669 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Virgin Galactic from $35.00 to $5.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Virgin Galactic from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Virgin Galactic Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE SPCE opened at $6.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $174.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.35 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.86. The company has a current ratio of 4.52, a quick ratio of 4.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.26 and a 12-month high of $48.60.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($2.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($4.10) by $1.44. Virgin Galactic had a negative net margin of 3,975.27% and a negative return on equity of 88.09%. The company had revenue of $0.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($5.60) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. will post -16.05 EPS for the current year.

Virgin Galactic 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.