Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at New Street Research

New Street Research upgraded shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VSAT. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on Viasat from $52.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

Viasat Stock Up 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $74.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.69 and a beta of 1.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.19. Viasat has a 12-month low of $8.61 and a 12-month high of $75.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.21, for a total value of $110,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 25,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,166.51. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total value of $1,430,533.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,600.32. This represents a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 38,071 shares of company stock valued at $1,804,437 in the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 8.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after buying an additional 1,289,024 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $85,338,000 after acquiring an additional 796,349 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Viasat by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,789,539 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $219,346,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Viasat by 38.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,713,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $108,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Viasat by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,328,854 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $115,266,000 after purchasing an additional 273,369 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.