Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.57.

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Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.73. 3,061,327 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,265,779. 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 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $26.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -2.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 predict that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,158,006. This 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 is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its stake in Viasat by 28.1% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $52,766,000 after acquiring an additional 969,942 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Viasat by 538.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,136,675 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,673,000 after acquiring an additional 958,706 shares during the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC bought a new position in Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,170,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Viasat by 149.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,194 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 818,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,044,364 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $42,912,000 after acquiring an additional 700,533 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by 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.