Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Up 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) rose 5.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.35 and last traded at $9.31. Approximately 660,674 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,961,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.33.

Viasat Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($6.16) earnings per share. Viasat’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 63.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 176.3% in 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.