Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Down 3.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) traded down 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $30.65 and last traded at $30.72. 264,864 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 3,658,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.13.

Viasat Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of -6.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.73.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Viasat by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,753 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 431,088 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,758 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.