Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $8.33, but opened at $9.07. Viasat shares last traded at $9.38, with a volume of 1,598,701 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on VSAT. Barclays dropped their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.33.

Viasat Trading Up 16.6 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($6.16) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Viasat in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Viasat by 176.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.