Viasat Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 4,237 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 82% compared to the average volume of 2,322 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Viasat from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viasat currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Viasat by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 51,832 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 50,290 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Viasat by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 4.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,455 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Viasat by 5.7% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 13,137 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.64. 871,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,612,173. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08. Viasat has a 1-year low of $11.76 and a 1-year high of $31.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 1.36.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 19.76% and a negative net margin of 22.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.83) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viasat will post -1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.