Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Short Interest Down 30.3% in August

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 17,210,000 shares, adropof30.3% from the July 31st total of 24,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 233.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Viasat by 74.7% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 2,412.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VSAT shares. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Viasat Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $30.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Viasat has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $33.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.52 and a beta of 1.26.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS 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.