Morgan Stanley Cuts Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Price Target to $12.00

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 30.01% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on VSAT. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.43.

Viasat Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $9.23 on Tuesday. Viasat has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $26.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($6.16) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Viasat will post -2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at $1,787,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,516,000 after acquiring an additional 12,802 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Viasat by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 319,471 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Viasat by 264.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,708 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 75,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.