Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Down 5.6% – Here’s Why

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s share price dropped 5.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $9.60 and last traded at $9.64. Approximately 898,578 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 4,411,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VSAT. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.43.

Viasat Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.25.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($6.16) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Viasat by 2.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Viasat by 176.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Viasat by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 26,172 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.