Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Up 9.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Viasat Inc. shares surged 9.8% to $31.98, significantly above its previous close of $29.14.
• Recent research reports showed mixed ratings, with four analysts giving it a Buy rating and five a Hold rating, leading to an average target price of $21.13.
• The company posted a quarterly earnings per share of $0.17, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $1.17 billion, a 4% increase from the previous year.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) traded up 9.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $31.84 and last traded at $31.98. 1,591,139 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 3,657,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VSAT. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, August 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Viasat Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of -6.86 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $23.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.06.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 197,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Viasat by 233.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 2,224 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in Viasat by 74.7% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 331.3% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,779 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.