Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Up 13.9% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Viasat shares surged 13.9% to about $72.82, though trading volume was 93% below its average.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $90.78; individual ratings range from buy to sell.
• Quarterly adjusted results beat EPS expectations at a loss of $0.32 per share, but revenue of $1.18 billion missed estimates. Revenue rose 3.4% year over year, while insiders sold about 51,100 shares over the past 90 days.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 13.9% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $71.79 and last traded at $72.8240. Approximately 151,653 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 2,093,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Viasat in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.78.

Viasat Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of -102.99 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 0.05% and a negative net margin of 2.07%. The business's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other news, CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.86, for a total transaction of $235,440.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 47,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,851.24. This trade represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Craig Miller sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,917,798.30. This trade represents a 35.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,593,911. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased 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 shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at approximately $127,283,000. Tema ETFs LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 229,857.1% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 965,820 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $86,740,000 after acquiring an additional 965,400 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 8,261.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 976,646 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $87,713,000 after purchasing an additional 964,966 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,124,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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