Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Down 5.6% – Time to Sell?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shares were down 5.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $9.60 and last traded at $9.64. Approximately 898,578 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,411,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.43.

Viasat Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.30 and a 200 day moving average of $12.21. 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 company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($6.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Viasat in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Viasat by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. 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.