Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.75.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial raised Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at $6,111,991. This represents a 33.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 6,815.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 233.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its position in shares of Viasat by 74.7% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Trading Down 4.6%

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $35.78 on Friday. Viasat has a 1 year low of $6.69 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of -7.74 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.93 and a 200 day moving average of $22.41.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.