Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• Viasat's stock saw a significant gap up, opening at $18.38 after a previous close of $16.58, with shares last trading at $18.50.
• Recent analyst ratings show a mix of opinions, with William Blair upgrading Viasat to "outperform" and Needham & Company lowering their price target from $19.00 to $16.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Institutional investors hold a substantial 86.05% of Viasat's stock, with Vanguard and Goldman Sachs increasing their stakes by 6.3% and 64.9%, respectively.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.58, but opened at $18.38. Viasat shares last traded at $18.50, with a volume of 1,227,296 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on VSAT shares. William Blair raised shares of Viasat from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Viasat from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.13.

Viasat Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $13.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of -6.21 and a beta of 1.20.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. Viasat had a negative net margin of 12.72% and a negative return on equity of 7.10%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambiar Investors LLC boosted its position in Viasat by 8.5% in the second quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,596 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Viasat by 343.3% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 312,895 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,568,000 after purchasing an additional 242,318 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Viasat by 331.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,779 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Viasat by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,638 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 7,941 shares during the period. 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.