Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.51, but opened at $8.80. Viasat shares last traded at $9.58, with a volume of 958,881 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.33.

Viasat Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.10 and a 200 day moving average of $12.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of -3.12 and a beta of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($6.16) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its holdings in Viasat by 28.1% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,766,000 after purchasing an additional 969,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 750,904 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Viasat by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,083,000 after purchasing an additional 276,376 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Viasat by 63.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 644,155 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,181,000 after purchasing an additional 250,389 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the third quarter worth about $1,980,000. Hedge funds and other 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.