Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading 11.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was up 11.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $10.98 and last traded at $10.60. Approximately 1,912,258 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 4,026,018 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.43.

Viasat Trading Up 15.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.98.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. As a group, analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Viasat in the third quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Viasat by 176.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Viasat by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.