Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives $14.57 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.57.

VSAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Viasat by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 850.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 3,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $8.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -2.65 and a beta of 1.06. Viasat has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $26.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.80.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.