Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading 10.1% Higher – What’s Next?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) rose 10.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.35 and last traded at $9.43. Approximately 2,517,853 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 4,246,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VSAT. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.57.

Viasat Trading Up 12.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.30 and its 200 day moving average is $10.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.80.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Helium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viasat in the fourth quarter worth $326,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Viasat by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 19,715 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Viasat by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 149,070 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after buying an additional 44,804 shares during the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in Viasat in the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Viasat by 2,262.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 539,534 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,591,000 after purchasing an additional 516,700 shares during the last quarter. 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.