Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Up 5.6% - Here's Why

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 5.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.69 and last traded at $11.82. Approximately 499,551 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,565,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VSAT. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.57.

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Viasat Trading Down 4.8 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.80.

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

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of Viasat 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 in the company, valued at $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viasat by 850.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 3,546 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.