Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Here’s Why

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price rose 5.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.69 and last traded at $11.82. Approximately 499,551 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 2,565,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VSAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.57.

Viasat Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 361.3% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,880 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 60,998 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new stake in Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Viasat by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 12,802 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Viasat by 115.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 282,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 151,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,980,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.