Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Raised to "Outperform" at William Blair

Key Points

• Viasat's stock was upgraded from a "market perform" to an "outperform" rating by William Blair, signaling increased confidence from analysts in the company's prospects.
• Several firms have raised their price targets for Viasat, with Deutsche Bank setting it at $16.00, while B. Riley has reduced theirs to $52.00.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 86.05% of Viasat's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

William Blair upgraded shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Viasat from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Viasat from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price objective on Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.13.

Viasat Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $25.62. The stock had a trading volume of 4,148,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,621,508. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.11. Viasat has a twelve month low of $6.69 and a twelve month high of $28.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.55 and a beta of 1.20.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 6.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,646,644 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $152,618,000 after purchasing an additional 872,784 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,190,232 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $53,913,000 after buying an additional 145,868 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $29,866,000 after buying an additional 1,128,338 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,384,942 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $24,851,000 after buying an additional 497,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,695,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.