Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $45.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.35% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.63.

Viasat Stock Down 8.8%

Viasat stock opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Viasat has a fifty-two week low of $7.36 and a fifty-two week high of $46.43.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 11.40% and a negative return on equity of 3.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total value of $100,246.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,003,585.86. This represents a 9.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $80,799.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,961.59. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 356,529 shares of company stock valued at $13,105,888. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OCO Capital Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $87,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,000 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Viasat by 12,255.3% during the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,430 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Viasat by 96.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,680,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $39,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,524 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $497,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 673.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,935 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by 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.