Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Price

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Barclays from $24.00 to $9.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.08% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on VSAT. Bank of America dropped their price target on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.33.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $8.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of -2.69 and a beta of 1.37. Viasat has a 12-month low of $6.69 and a 12-month high of $29.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($6.16) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viasat will post -2.38 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,532,375 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $226,711,000 after acquiring an additional 348,166 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Viasat by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $53,083,000 after buying an additional 276,376 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Viasat by 28.1% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,766,000 after acquiring an additional 969,942 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,508,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,950,000 after buying an additional 122,472 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,523,465 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,190,000 after acquiring an additional 115,909 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.