Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Viasat Put Options (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 8,441 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 242% compared to the typical volume of 2,469 put options.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $12.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,375,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,627,713. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08. Viasat has a 1-year low of $11.76 and a 1-year high of $29.11.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Viasat from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.17.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

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

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viasat by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,184,209 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $340,549,000 after purchasing an additional 286,872 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1,752.3% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 159,355 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after buying an additional 150,752 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 11.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,145 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Viasat by 12.2% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 44,886 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 4,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Viasat by 23.2% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 70,622 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 13,304 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.