Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $8.89, but opened at $9.67. Viasat shares last traded at $10.71, with a volume of 1,768,715 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.33.

Viasat Stock Down 8.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $8.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.39.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($6.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter worth about $28,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 176.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $61,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Viasat

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.