Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.43.

VSAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced 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 reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KBC Group NV grew its position in Viasat by 63.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Viasat by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Viasat by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Viasat by 2.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in 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 during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $9.23 on Friday. Viasat has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $26.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -2.75 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.71.

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

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.