Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.2857.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VSAT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $36.92 on Wednesday. Viasat has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $37.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.99 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.03.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $3,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,111,991. The trade was a 33.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Viasat by 233.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Viasat by 74.7% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Viasat by 2,412.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. 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.