Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Down 7.8% – What’s Next?
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyViasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 7.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $42.41 and last traded at $42.3790. 1,193,839 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 1,862,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.94.
Analyst Ratings Changes
VSAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.63.
Read Our Latest Research Report on VSAT
Viasat Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.95.
Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat
In related news, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total value of $100,246.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,831 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,585.86. This represents a 9.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $7,018,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,534,993 shares in the company, valued at $53,862,904.37. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 356,529 shares of company stock valued at $13,105,888. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Viasat
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 797.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 117,019 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,032,000 after purchasing an additional 103,981 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. grew its position in Viasat by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 20,606 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,237 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth $376,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Viasat Company Profile
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.