Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Up 6.5% - Should You Buy?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) rose 6.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.59 and last traded at $9.64. Approximately 248,779 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 2,724,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.57.

Viasat Stock Up 2.8 %

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.77 and a beta of 1.06.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Viasat by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,773,860 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $117,216,000 after acquiring an additional 194,006 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,044,364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $42,912,000 after buying an additional 700,533 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Viasat by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,093,740 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $17,818,000 after buying an additional 667,564 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,887,537 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $16,063,000 after acquiring an additional 364,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 149.6% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 818,301 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Viasat

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.