Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $10.80 and last traded at $10.84, with a volume of 22928 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.33.

Viasat Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.87.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.83) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $61,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the second quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $81,000. 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.