Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.02, but opened at $7.82. Viasat shares last traded at $7.63, with a volume of 442,762 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.33.

Viasat Price Performance

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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.84 and its 200-day moving average is $12.54. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($6.16) EPS. Viasat’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. KBC Group NV lifted 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 buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. 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.