Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on VSAT. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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, November 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Viasat Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of VSAT opened at $9.37 on Wednesday. Viasat has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $26.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.34 and a 200 day moving average of $11.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.79 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 75.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Viasat during the third quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Viasat during the third quarter worth $28,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Viasat by 63.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Viasat during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 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.