Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up to $12.79

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.79, but opened at $13.18. Viasat shares last traded at $13.68, with a volume of 434,601 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VSAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.17.

Viasat Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.59. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $55,947,695.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at $170,052,146.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Viasat by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,184,209 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,549,000 after acquiring an additional 286,872 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1,752.3% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 159,355 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 150,752 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 11.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,145 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Viasat by 12.2% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 44,886 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 4,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Viasat by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 70,622 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 13,304 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.