Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.8571.

Several brokerages recently commented on VSAT. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $46.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of -17.81 and a beta of 1.44. Viasat has a fifty-two week low of $7.36 and a fifty-two week high of $50.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.64.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, CAO Camellia E. Fitzgerald sold 2,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $134,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,408. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 100,000 shares of Viasat 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 in the company, valued at approximately $57,887,617.62. This represents a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 302,810 shares of company stock valued at $11,186,880. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Viasat by 2,821.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,222,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $111,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112,670 shares in the last quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $87,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,000 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Viasat by 12,255.3% during the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,161,000 after buying an additional 1,393,430 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Viasat by 96.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,680,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $39,134,000 after buying an additional 1,318,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Viasat by 8.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $497,015,000 after buying an additional 1,289,024 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.