Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's What Happened

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $10.80 and last traded at $10.84, with a volume of 22928 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VSAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Viasat from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Viasat Trading Up 3.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $15.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.78.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $55,947,695.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 63.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 644,155 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $8,181,000 after buying an additional 250,389 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 1,145.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 750,904 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Viasat by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,184,209 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $340,549,000 after acquiring an additional 286,872 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $509,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Viasat by 1,752.3% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 159,355 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 150,752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

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.