Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Given New $19.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $28.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 71.79% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VSAT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.83.

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $11.06 on Tuesday. Viasat has a 1 year low of $10.40 and a 1 year high of $29.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.59. 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 company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.83) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viasat will post -1.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $55,947,695.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,052,146.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,025 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the second quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the first quarter worth $86,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Company Profile

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.