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

Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.43.

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

Viasat Stock Up 2.8 %

VSAT stock opened at $9.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -2.75 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.71. Viasat has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.28%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -2.78 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 361.3% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,880 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 60,998 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth $710,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,000. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 40.4% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 191,304 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,284,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 115.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 282,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 151,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.