Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Downgraded by Barclays to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Barclays downgraded Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell," setting a price target of $23.00, indicating a potential downside of 24.13% from its previous close.
• Despite the downgrade, Viasat's stock saw an increase of 3.4% in trading, reaching $30.32, with a market cap of $4.07 billion.
• In recent reports from other analysts, Viasat received mixed ratings, including a "buy" from Needham & Company and a "hold" from Deutsche Bank, highlighting a consensus rating of "Hold."

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an "equal weight" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $23.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider's stock, up from their previous price objective of $10.00. Barclays's price target suggests a potential downside of 25.54% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.29.

Viasat Trading Up 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT traded up $1.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.89. 372,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,656,989. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 1.21. Viasat has a 12-month low of $6.69 and a 12-month high of $34.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.55. 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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. Viasat's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 43.0% in the fourth 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 valued at $1,269,000 after buying an additional 44,804 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Viasat by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 86,102 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 5,660 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 1,951.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,955 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 21,836 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 120.9% in the first quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 40,650 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 22,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the first quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

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.