Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Down 7.4% – Should You Sell?

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shares traded down 7.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $48.38 and last traded at $48.2590. 714,975 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 1,705,169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.86.

Viasat Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.30 and a 200-day moving average of $38.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.97 and a beta of 1.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total transaction of $1,430,533.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,600.32. This trade represents a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Camellia E. Fitzgerald sold 2,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $134,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $477,408. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 140,881 shares of company stock valued at $5,973,317 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viasat by 8.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after buying an additional 1,289,024 shares in the last quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 60.0% in the second quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $87,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,000 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,338,000 after purchasing an additional 796,349 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,541,636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $80,908,000 after purchasing an additional 351,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,883 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $139,601,000 after purchasing an additional 743,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.