Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Down 4.5% - Time to Sell?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 4.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $10.72 and last traded at $10.75. Approximately 269,111 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,710,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Viasat Stock Performance

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

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 19.76% and a negative net margin of 22.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.83) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 8,545,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $170,052,146.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.