Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Down 5.3% – Here’s Why

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)’s stock price traded down 5.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $70.30 and last traded at $70.0980. 1,413,289 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 2,106,832 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays set a $49.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 target price on Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Viasat Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.64 and its 200-day moving average is $55.61. The company has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of -253.66 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 0.73%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $1,945,732.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 213,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,306,087.70. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $25,904,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,082,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,083,012.96. This trade represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 438,803 shares of company stock worth $28,655,600 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tema ETFs LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 229,857.1% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 965,820 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,740,000 after buying an additional 965,400 shares during the last quarter. MRA Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at about $547,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $372,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 935.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 19.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,798 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.