Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading 6.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price was up 6.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.25 and last traded at $9.25. 266,486 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 1,895,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Viasat Trading Up 10.4 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.08 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 issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($6.16) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Viasat during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Viasat during the third quarter worth $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter worth $29,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently 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.