Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $28.00. The stock had previously closed at $18.84, but opened at $15.81. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viasat shares last traded at $16.20, with a volume of 307,769 shares traded.

Separately, Barclays decreased their target price on Viasat from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 348,166 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Viasat by 68.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,133,429 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $20,923,000 after buying an additional 458,959 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Viasat by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 920,998 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,742,000 after buying an additional 118,902 shares during the period. Cove Street Capital LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 17.7% in the first quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 766,753 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $13,871,000 after buying an additional 115,224 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Viasat by 5.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 672,639 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $12,417,000 after buying an additional 34,037 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.31.

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.