Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up to $12.79

Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.79, but opened at $13.18. Viasat shares last traded at $13.68, with a volume of 434,601 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VSAT. StockNews.com cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Viasat from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.17.

Viasat Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.59.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.83) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $55,947,695.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,052,146.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Viasat by 1,145.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,369,000 after purchasing an additional 750,904 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,511,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viasat by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,532,375 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $226,711,000 after buying an additional 348,166 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,936,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,531,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Company Profile

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.