Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $8.33, but opened at $9.07. Viasat shares last traded at $9.38, with a volume of 1,598,701 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VSAT. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Viasat from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.33.

Viasat Stock Up 13.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.02 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.26.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($6.16) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the second quarter worth $29,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth $28,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Viasat by 176.3% in 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. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.