Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Down 4.9% – Should You Sell?

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price was down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $9.92 and last traded at $9.91. Approximately 585,875 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 2,614,341 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VSAT. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.57.

Viasat Trading Down 10.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.75 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.76 and its 200 day moving average is $9.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Viasat by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Viasat by 2.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Viasat by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 72,132 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in Viasat in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.