Analysts Set Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Price Target at $15.57

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.57.

Several brokerages have weighed in on VSAT. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Viasat Stock Performance

Viasat stock opened at $9.55 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -2.84 and a beta of 1.38. Viasat has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $26.70.

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

Insider Activity

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Viasat by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Viasat by 63.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.