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

Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) gapped up prior to trading 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.83.

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 50-day moving average of $17.05 and a 200 day moving average of $16.55.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) 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 company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.83) EPS. Viasat’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Viasat by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,839 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 920,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 118,902 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 96.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 47,348 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 23,271 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $17,511,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $1,864,000. 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.