StockNews.com Downgrades Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) to Sell

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

VSAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.57.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $8.74 on Thursday. Viasat has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $26.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -2.60 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. As a group, analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,766,000 after buying an additional 969,942 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 538.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,136,675 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,673,000 after buying an additional 958,706 shares during the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,170,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 149.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,194 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 818,301 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,044,364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,912,000 after acquiring an additional 700,533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Company Profile

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.