Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.57.

VSAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 13,512 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,773 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the first quarter valued at approximately $159,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 52,738 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Viasat by 120.9% during the 1st quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 40,650 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 22,250 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of Viasat stock opened at $8.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.28 and its 200 day moving average is $9.43. Viasat has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.