Viasat’s (VSAT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $45.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

VSAT has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.29.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $43.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.49. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of -10.82 and a beta of 1.39. Viasat has a twelve month low of $7.36 and a twelve month high of $46.43.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Viasat will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total transaction of $80,799.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 68,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,439,961.59. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total transaction of $4,034,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,434,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,887,617.62. This represents a 6.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 356,529 shares of company stock worth $13,105,888. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth $28,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 6,815.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 7,380.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,244 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.