Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Down 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s share price fell 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $9.92 and last traded at $9.91. 585,875 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 2,614,341 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.57.

Viasat Stock Down 6.0 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.85. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Viasat by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 86,102 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 5,660 shares in the last quarter. Helium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter worth $326,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 19,715 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 149,070 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 44,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $93,000. 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.