Traders Buy High Volume of Viasat Call Options (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 49,655 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,288% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,577 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial raised Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.29.

Insider Activity

In other Viasat news, CAO Shawn Lynn Duffy sold 51,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $1,872,842.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,043.98. This represents a 89.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,887,617.62. This trade represents a 6.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 356,529 shares of company stock worth $13,105,888 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,099,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth $3,066,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 6.8% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,541,636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $80,908,000 after buying an additional 351,404 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Viasat during the second quarter worth $1,601,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the second quarter valued at $201,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $47.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.22. Viasat has a 12-month low of $7.36 and a 12-month high of $48.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.90 and a beta of 1.39.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Viasat

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.