Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Given New $19.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Bank of America from $31.00 to $19.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 46.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Viasat Stock Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $12.98 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 1.35. Viasat has a one year low of $11.76 and a one year high of $29.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.83) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 348,166 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in Viasat by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,449,281 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,806,000 after acquiring an additional 36,681 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Viasat by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 920,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,742,000 after acquiring an additional 118,902 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Viasat by 1,145.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 750,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Viasat by 25.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 796,368 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,114,000 after purchasing an additional 162,804 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.