Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $48.90 and last traded at $47.2710, with a volume of 639941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price target (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.29.

Viasat Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.55 and a beta of 1.39.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,434,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,887,617.62. The trade was a 6.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,961.59. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 356,529 shares of company stock valued at $13,105,888. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,024 shares during the period. OCO Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 60.0% during the second quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $87,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,000 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its holdings in Viasat by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $85,338,000 after purchasing an additional 796,349 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,541,636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $80,908,000 after purchasing an additional 351,404 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Viasat by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,713,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $108,808,000 after buying an additional 1,033,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

About Viasat

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.