Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Purchases Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) recently bought shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT). In a filing disclosed on November 20th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Viasat stock on October 23rd.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of New Gold (NYSE:NGD) on 11/18/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) on 11/18/2024.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ:PTEN) on 10/23/2024.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $8.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.69 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $29.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. Viasat’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($6.16) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of 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. downgraded shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 28.1% in the 3rd 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. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1,145.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,369,000 after purchasing an additional 750,904 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viasat by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,532,375 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $226,711,000 after buying an additional 348,166 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,531,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,083,000 after purchasing an additional 276,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

About Representative Wasserman Schultz

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Florida’s 25th Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2023. Her current term ends on January 3, 2025. Wasserman Schultz (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Florida’s 25th Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 20, 2024. Wasserman Schultz was first elected to the U.S. House in 2004 from District 20. She previously represented District 34 of the Florida State Senate from 2003 to 2004, District 32 of the Florida State Senate from 2001 to 2003, and District 97 of the Florida House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001. She served as one of the Chief Deputy Whips of the Democratic caucus for the 113th Congress. She also served as the chair of the Democratic National Committee. On July 24, 2016, Wasserman Schultz announced that she would resign her leadership position at the end of the party’s convention. Wasserman Schultz was considered a possible candidate in 2016 for U.S. Senate. However, she announced on March 17, 2015, that she would not seek the Senate seat and would instead run for re-election to the House. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was born in Forest Hills, New York. Wasserman Schultz graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School East in 1984. She earned a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Florida in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Wasserman Schultz’s career experience includes working as a staffer to former U.S. Representative Peter Deutsch.

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.