Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $45.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.35% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on Viasat in a research report on Friday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.63.

Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.39. Viasat has a 12-month low of $7.36 and a 12-month high of $46.43.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viasat will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total transaction of $100,246.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,585.86. This represents a 9.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $80,799.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,961.59. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 356,529 shares of company stock worth $13,105,888. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Viasat by 6,815.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Viasat during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.