Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $27.55 and traded as high as $35.76. Viasat shares last traded at $35.0450, with a volume of 647,861 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.75.

Viasat Trading Down 2.4%

The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.76 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative net margin of 11.40% and a negative return on equity of 3.65%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. Viasat’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total transaction of $100,246.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,585.86. The trade was a 9.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $7,018,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,534,993 shares in the company, valued at $53,862,904.37. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 256,529 shares of company stock valued at $9,071,888. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,325,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at about $368,000. Harvest Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter worth approximately $870,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 39.7% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 23,492 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 6,673 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Viasat by 42.6% in the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 137,402 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 41,055 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.