Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Price Target Raised to $58.00

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price objective hoisted by Needham & Company LLC from $45.00 to $58.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.71.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $46.58 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.95 and its 200 day moving average is $38.98. Viasat has a fifty-two week low of $7.36 and a fifty-two week high of $52.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of -17.98 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.13.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, SVP Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.21, for a total value of $110,904.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 25,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,166.51. This trade represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total value of $1,430,533.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 38,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,600.32. This trade represents a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,881 shares of company stock valued at $5,973,317. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently 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.