Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $64.92 and last traded at $64.08, with a volume of 1424024 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VSAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Viasat from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays raised Viasat from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.43.

Viasat Stock Up 2.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of -24.74 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total transaction of $1,430,533.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 38,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,792,600.32. The trade was a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Craig Andrew Miller sold 5,260 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $263,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 21,252 shares in the company, valued at $1,062,600. This represents a 19.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,881 shares of company stock worth $1,939,317. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 8.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after buying an additional 1,289,024 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its stake in Viasat by 15.8% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,338,000 after purchasing an additional 796,349 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Viasat by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,883 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $139,601,000 after purchasing an additional 743,696 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Viasat by 38.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,713,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $108,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Viasat by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,328,854 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $115,266,000 after purchasing an additional 273,369 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.