Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailyShares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Barclays upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Barclays now has a $49.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $23.00. Viasat traded as high as $59.19 and last traded at $56.33, with a volume of 2101646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.88.
VSAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Viasat from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.43.
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Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Viasat news, SVP Craig Andrew Miller sold 5,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $263,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 21,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,062,600. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 30,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.04, for a total value of $1,430,533.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,792,600.32. The trade was a 44.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 40,881 shares of company stock valued at $1,939,317 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 6,815.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Viasat Stock Up 1.6%
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.72 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.30.
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.