Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price Down 6.5% – What’s Next?

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shares dropped 6.5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $66.17 and last traded at $65.5990. Approximately 795,951 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 1,924,936 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays set a $49.00 target price on Viasat in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 target price on Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.13.

Viasat Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -230.55 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.47 and a 200 day moving average of $50.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total value of $25,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,196 shares in the company, valued at $70,083,012.96. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Theresa Wise sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $172,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,000. This trade represents a 18.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 439,535 shares of company stock valued at $28,622,079. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brightline Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1.8% during the third quarter. Brightline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,036,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $59,655,000 after purchasing an additional 36,000 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $830,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $7,325,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $1,241,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Company Profile

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.