Franklin Resources Inc. Invests $80,000 in Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Virgin Galactic Price Performance

NYSE SPCE opened at $6.06 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $5.26 and a 1 year high of $48.60. The company has a market cap of $174.98 million, a PE ratio of -0.35 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.86.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($2.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $0.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($5.60) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. will post -16.05 EPS for the current year.

About Virgin Galactic

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.