Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives $21.43 Average Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Viasat Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with five holding a "hold" rating and three assigning a "buy" rating.
• Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of Viasat stock for $3.1 million, which decreased his holdings by 33.65% to approximately $6.1 million.
• The company's stock price has experienced a decline of 1.8%, opening at $29.61, while having a one-year high of $34.05 and a low of $6.69.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.4286.

VSAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,350,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,719,869. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.71 and a 200-day moving average of $15.56. Viasat has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $34.05. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $3,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 197,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,111,991. This trade represents a 33.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 1,951.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,955 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 21,836 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 149,070 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 44,804 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Viasat by 149.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,194 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $11,618,000 after buying an additional 818,301 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Viasat by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 274,250 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 63,020 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.