Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Up 6.1% - Still a Buy?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) traded up 6.1% on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.08 and last traded at $10.08. 319,947 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,723,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Viasat from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com cut Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.83.

Viasat Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $12.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.06.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.83) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at $170,052,146.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,800 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Viasat by 4.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,455 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in Viasat by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 13,137 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,044 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 48,426 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. 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.