Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Up 5.7% – Here’s Why

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) traded up 5.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $73.88 and last traded at $74.3930. Approximately 285,919 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,106,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VSAT. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price target on shares of Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Viasat Trading Up 6.8%

The stock has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of -259.67 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.35 and its 200-day moving average is $55.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.19.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John P. Stenbit sold 653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $46,846.22. Following the sale, the director owned 29,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,123,288.78. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $25,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,083,012.96. This trade represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 438,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,655,600 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. MRA Advisory Group acquired a new position in Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth about $547,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Viasat by 935.3% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,798 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,940 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. 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.