Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Down 6.1% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Viasat shares fell 6.1% on Monday to about $58.20 (intraday low $58.71) with trading volume of 352,365 shares, roughly 79% below the average session volume.
• The stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $54.57, and recent analyst views are mixed—Barclays upgraded to Equal Weight, Raymond James set a $74 outperform target, while Weiss Ratings reiterated a sell.
• Insiders sold 40,881 shares (~$1.94M) in the last 90 days (insider ownership 2.20%), while institutional investors hold 86.05% of the stock and several funds (Millennium, Goldman, AQR, RBC) materially increased their positions.

Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) fell 6.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $58.71 and last traded at $58.1950. 352,365 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,696,751 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VSAT. Barclays raised shares of Viasat from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $23.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 target price on shares of Viasat and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Viasat from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.57.

Viasat Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.78 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.59.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total transaction of $1,430,533.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,792,600.32. This trade represents a 44.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Craig Andrew Miller sold 5,260 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $263,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 21,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,062,600. This represents a 19.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 40,881 shares of company stock valued at $1,939,317 in the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Viasat by 483.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,448 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 90,680 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 189.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 452,933 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,692,000 after buying an additional 296,612 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 673.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $14,443,000 after buying an additional 1,206,935 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,866,000 after buying an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 14,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc NASDAQ: VSAT provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat's product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.

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