Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $105.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 32.92% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on VSAT. Zacks Research upgraded Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Viasat in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.78.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $63.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.26. Viasat has a 12-month low of $29.13 and a 12-month high of $93.03. The company has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -88.82 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.10. Viasat had a negative net margin of 2.07% and a negative return on equity of 0.05%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John P. Stenbit sold 705 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.75, for a total value of $47,058.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,378.75. This trade represents a 56.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Benjamin Palmer sold 2,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.87, for a total transaction of $139,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,087 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,438.69. This trade represents a 6.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 51,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,593,911 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,863,374,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth $3,607,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth $11,902,000. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 336,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $15,391,000 after buying an additional 161,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth $5,423,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc is a global communications company that designs, develops and operates satellite and wireless communications systems. Its services support consumers, businesses, governments and other organizations that need connectivity in areas where terrestrial networks may be limited.

The company provides satellite broadband for homes and businesses, in-flight connectivity for commercial and business aircraft, and communications services for maritime customers. Viasat also supplies secure communications, networking equipment and related services to government and defense customers.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Viasat serves customers in the Americas and internationally.