StockNews.com Upgrades Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) to Hold

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VSAT. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Viasat Stock Up 0.5 %

VSAT stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.31. 2,839,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,569,599. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.34 and its 200 day moving average is $11.37. Viasat has a twelve month low of $6.69 and a twelve month high of $26.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.77 and a beta of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 361.3% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,880 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 60,998 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the third quarter worth about $710,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 115.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 282,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,373,000 after buying an additional 151,590 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the third quarter worth about $1,980,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Company Profile

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.