Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Up 6.1% – Here’s What Happened

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) rose 6.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $10.08 and last traded at $10.08. Approximately 319,947 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 1,723,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

Viasat Trading Up 4.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.78.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.83) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,052,146.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter valued at $61,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the third quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at $67,000. 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.