Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Down 5.6% - Time to Sell?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $9.60 and last traded at $9.64. 898,578 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 4,411,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.43.

Viasat Stock Down 6.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's 50 day moving average is $9.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($6.16) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $53,083,000 after purchasing an additional 276,376 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Viasat by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $52,766,000 after buying an additional 969,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,508,056 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,950,000 after acquiring an additional 122,472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 8.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,523,465 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $18,190,000 after acquiring an additional 115,909 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Viasat by 1,145.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 750,904 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Company Profile

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.

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