Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $19.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on VSAT. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.43.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT opened at $11.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.32 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.83. Viasat has a 12-month low of $6.69 and a 12-month high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.28% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Research analysts predict that Viasat will post -2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,083,000 after buying an additional 276,376 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Viasat by 28.1% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,766,000 after acquiring an additional 969,942 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viasat by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,508,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,950,000 after acquiring an additional 122,472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Viasat by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,887,537 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,063,000 after purchasing an additional 364,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 98.5% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 675,378 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after purchasing an additional 335,082 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.