Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Up 5.6% – What’s Next?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s share price shot up 5.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.69 and last traded at $11.82. 499,551 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,565,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VSAT. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.57.

Viasat Stock Down 1.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.44 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value 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 approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 361.3% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,880 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 60,998 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth about $1,111,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 12,802 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 282,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,373,000 after buying an additional 151,590 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth approximately $1,980,000. 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.