Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Viasat has been upgraded from a "strong sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a more positive outlook for the company's stock.
• Other analysts, including William Blair and Needham & Company, have raised their ratings and target prices for Viasat, indicating a bullish sentiment among multiple investment firms.
• Viasat reported a positive earnings increase, with $0.17 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a 4.0% year-over-year revenue growth.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on VSAT. 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 note on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair upgraded shares of Viasat from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Viasat Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of VSAT traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.81. 1,573,365 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,603,477. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.44. Viasat has a twelve month low of $6.69 and a twelve month high of $28.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Viasat's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 96.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,680,387 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $39,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,524 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 431,088 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $6,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 35,623 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 10,128 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 197,224 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,879,000 after acquiring an additional 21,300 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 322,182 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,704,000 after acquiring an additional 95,998 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by 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.