Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 30.01% from the company’s current price.

VSAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.43.

Viasat Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $9.23 on Tuesday. Viasat has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $26.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($6.16) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Viasat by 63.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.