Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $36.98, but opened at $39.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Viasat shares last traded at $38.2910, with a volume of 801,044 shares changing hands.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.75.

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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 15.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,838 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Viasat by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,370 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Trading Up 3.1%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average of $22.21. 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 cap of $5.12 billion, a PE 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.