Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Barclays from $9.00 to $10.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.34% from the company’s previous close.

VSAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.57.

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $8.67 on Wednesday. Viasat has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $26.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. Equities analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,773,860 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $117,216,000 after purchasing an additional 194,006 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,044,364 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,912,000 after purchasing an additional 700,533 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Viasat by 6.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,083,000 after purchasing an additional 276,376 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in Viasat by 28.1% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,766,000 after buying an additional 969,942 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,508,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,950,000 after buying an additional 122,472 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.