Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $9.21 and last traded at $10.49, with a volume of 928247 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VSAT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Viasat Stock Down 8.8 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.27 and a 200-day moving average of $14.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 1.37.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.83) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viasat by 1,145.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,369,000 after purchasing an additional 750,904 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,532,375 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $226,711,000 after acquiring an additional 348,166 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,936,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,531,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Viasat by 63.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 644,155 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,181,000 after purchasing an additional 250,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.