Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.1250.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 target price on Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, Director John P. Stenbit sold 653 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $46,846.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,123,288.78. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $1,945,732.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 213,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,306,087.70. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 438,275 shares of company stock worth $28,608,719. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 483.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,140,000 after buying an additional 90,680 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 189.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 452,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,692,000 after buying an additional 296,612 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 673.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,443,000 after buying an additional 1,206,935 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,866,000 after buying an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Viasat by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $61.95 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.63. Viasat has a 1-year low of $14.00 and a 1-year high of $89.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.19. The firm has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -213.62 and a beta of 1.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. Viasat’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.