Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Target Lowered at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham lowered its Viasat price target from $105 to $85 but maintained a Buy rating; the new target implies 32.92% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment overall is Moderate Buy, with a consensus price target of $90.78.
• Viasat’s latest quarterly loss per share was narrower than expected ($0.32 versus $0.42 forecast), while revenue of $1.18 billion missed estimates of $1.20 billion; revenue rose 3.4% year over year.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $105.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 32.92% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.78.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $63.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -88.82 and a beta of 1.76. Viasat has a twelve month low of $29.13 and a twelve month high of $93.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.77 and a 200-day moving average of $64.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 2.07% and a negative return on equity of 0.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.86, for a total value of $235,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 47,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,797,851.24. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Craig Miller sold 22,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.19, for a total transaction of $1,579,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,917,798.30. This represents a 35.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,098 shares of company stock worth $3,593,911. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the second quarter worth approximately $1,863,374,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at $127,283,000. Tema ETFs LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 229,857.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 965,820 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $86,740,000 after purchasing an additional 965,400 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Viasat by 8,261.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 976,646 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $87,713,000 after buying an additional 964,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at $80,124,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc is a global communications company that designs, develops and operates satellite and wireless communications systems. Its services support consumers, businesses, governments and other organizations that need connectivity in areas where terrestrial networks may be limited.

The company provides satellite broadband for homes and businesses, in-flight connectivity for commercial and business aircraft, and communications services for maritime customers. Viasat also supplies secure communications, networking equipment and related services to government and defense customers.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Viasat serves customers in the Americas and internationally.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.