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

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 8,441 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 242% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,469 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,052,146.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 11,033.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $61,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $12.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.61. Viasat has a 1 year low of $11.76 and a 1 year high of $29.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.83) EPS. Viasat’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -1.34 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VSAT shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Viasat from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Viasat from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.17.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.