Raymond James Financial Upgrades Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) to Outperform

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $52.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target indicates a potential upside of 36.45% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.75.

Viasat Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of VSAT opened at $38.11 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.21. Viasat has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.25 and a beta of 1.24.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,111,991. The trade was a 33.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Viasat by 233.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Viasat by 74.7% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.