Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.1111.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 target price on shares of Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Activity

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total value of $25,904,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,083,012.96. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.41, for a total value of $249,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,136,855.99. This trade represents a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 438,803 shares of company stock worth $28,655,600. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Viasat by 4.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,940 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Viasat by 2.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,605 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 935.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,446 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,360 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $74.27 on Friday. Viasat has a twelve month low of $14.11 and a twelve month high of $93.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -256.10 and a beta of 1.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viasat will post -0.39 EPS 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.