Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Up 6.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) rose 6.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $71.95 and last traded at $72.92. Approximately 886,301 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 2,115,108 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VSAT. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Barclays set a $49.00 price target on Viasat in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.11.

Viasat Trading Up 4.0%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.81. The stock has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -246.48 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 0.73%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $25,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,083,012.96. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $1,945,732.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 213,355 shares in the company, valued at $15,306,087.70. This represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 438,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,655,600 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tema ETFs LLC boosted its position in Viasat by 229,857.1% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 965,820 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,740,000 after purchasing an additional 965,400 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $547,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $372,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 935.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,798 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.