Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $9.98 and last traded at $9.99, with a volume of 131171 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Viasat Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 19.76% and a negative net margin of 22.13%. Viasat’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.83) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Viasat by 63.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 644,155 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,181,000 after purchasing an additional 250,389 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1,145.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,369,000 after buying an additional 750,904 shares in the last quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Viasat by 40.4% in the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 191,304 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,284,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at approximately $509,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Viasat by 1,752.3% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 159,355 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 150,752 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Company Profile

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.