Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.03% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.57.

Viasat Stock Up 1.2 %

VSAT stock opened at $8.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.61 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.97. Viasat has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $26.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Helium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 19,715 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Viasat by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 149,070 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 44,804 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth $93,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Viasat by 2,262.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 539,534 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,591,000 after purchasing an additional 516,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

About Viasat

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.