Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $15.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $29.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on VSAT. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $23.83.

Viasat Trading Up 3.3 %

Viasat stock opened at $12.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.97 and a 200-day moving average of $16.47. Viasat has a one year low of $11.76 and a one year high of $29.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.83) EPS. Viasat’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Viasat will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at $170,052,146.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Viasat by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,184,209 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $340,549,000 after purchasing an additional 286,872 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1,752.3% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 159,355 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after buying an additional 150,752 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Viasat by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,145 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Viasat by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 44,886 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 4,897 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 23.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 70,622 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 13,304 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.