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

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $12.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on VSAT. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $9.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.29 and a 200 day moving average of $11.98. 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 has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. As a group, 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 Viasat 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 directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Viasat by 63.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Viasat by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.