Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Down 8.3% – Time to Sell?

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shares dropped 8.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $40.16 and last traded at $39.8320. Approximately 618,450 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 1,582,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VSAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.75.

Viasat Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.20 and a beta of 1.39.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total value of $4,034,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,434,993 shares in the company, valued at $57,887,617.62. This represents a 6.51% 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. Also, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total value of $100,246.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,831 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,585.86. The trade was a 9.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 356,529 shares of company stock worth $13,105,888 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 6,815.4% during 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 last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Viasat in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 7,380.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,244 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.