Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.70 EPS

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70), Zacks reports. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%.

Viasat Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of VSAT stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.52. 3,533,936 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,133,521. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.29 and a 200 day moving average of $12.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Viasat has a 1 year low of $6.69 and a 1 year high of $26.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.