Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its price target upped by Needham & Company LLC from $45.00 to $58.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 21.26% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of Viasat stock opened at $47.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.47 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.74. Viasat has a one year low of $7.36 and a one year high of $52.70.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In related news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total transaction of $1,430,533.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 38,108 shares in the company, valued at $1,792,600.32. The trade was a 44.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.21, for a total value of $110,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 25,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,166.51. This trade represents a 8.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at about $583,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Viasat by 278.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,427 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 4,727 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth approximately $277,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 16,716 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,144 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.