Viasat Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 49,655 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,288% compared to the average volume of 3,577 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial raised Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Shawn Lynn Duffy sold 51,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $1,872,842.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,021 shares in the company, valued at $219,043.98. This represents a 89.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,439,961.59. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 356,529 shares of company stock valued at $13,105,888. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Viasat Stock Performance

Viasat stock opened at $46.23 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $7.36 and a fifty-two week high of $49.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.56 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.32.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its 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. Viasat had a negative net margin of 11.40% and a negative return on equity of 3.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.