Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $16.00. The stock had previously closed at $10.01, but opened at $9.73. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viasat shares last traded at $9.90, with a volume of 817,290 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.14.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 581.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 353,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 301,257 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth $378,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 69.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 252,466 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,631,000 after purchasing an additional 103,396 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth $2,278,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Trading Up 0.7%

The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.00 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.80.

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.