Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.53, but opened at $9.80. Viasat shares last traded at $9.80, with a volume of 130,524 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.33.

Viasat Trading Down 3.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.59.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. Viasat’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($6.16) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.6% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 4.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,455 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Viasat by 8.3% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,044 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Viasat by 3.1% during the second quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 40,775 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.