Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Sets New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $9.21 and last traded at $10.49, with a volume of 928247 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Viasat Trading Down 7.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 19.76% and a negative net margin of 22.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.83) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.5 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 Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at $170,052,146.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 6.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,227 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Viasat by 63.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP raised its stake in Viasat by 17.8% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 30,400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Viasat by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 400,320 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $4,780,000 after buying an additional 24,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Viasat by 9.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 26,172 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. 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.