Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.43.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Viasat Stock Down 20.9 %

VSAT opened at $8.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 1.35. Viasat has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $26.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.28% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Equities research analysts expect that Viasat will post -2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 722.6% during the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 100,108 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 87,939 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Viasat by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,773,860 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $117,216,000 after purchasing an additional 194,006 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Viasat in the fourth quarter worth $130,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Viasat by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,229,116 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,460,000 after buying an additional 256,389 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at $636,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.