Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.57.

VSAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 538.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,136,675 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,673,000 after purchasing an additional 958,706 shares during the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at $7,170,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Viasat by 149.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,194 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $11,618,000 after purchasing an additional 818,301 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Viasat by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,044,364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $42,912,000 after purchasing an additional 700,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Viasat by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,093,740 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $17,818,000 after purchasing an additional 667,564 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of Viasat stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,482,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,727,664. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.69 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Viasat has a 12-month low of $6.69 and a 12-month high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.