Analysts Set Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Target Price at $37.63

Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.2857.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VSAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $43.28 on Friday. Viasat has a one year low of $7.36 and a one year high of $46.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.87 and its 200-day moving average is $31.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.82 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $80,799.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,961.59. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $7,018,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,534,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,862,904.37. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 356,529 shares of company stock worth $13,105,888. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 6,815.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 86.05% of the stock is 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.