Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Price Target Cut to $12.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 30.01% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on VSAT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $9.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Viasat has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($6.16) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viasat will post -2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its holdings in Viasat by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,766,000 after buying an additional 969,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 1,145.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 750,904 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Viasat by 6.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,083,000 after purchasing an additional 276,376 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Viasat during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,801,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Viasat during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,787,000. 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.