Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Viasat Put Options (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 4,060 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 153% compared to the average daily volume of 1,607 put options.

Viasat Trading Up 12.6 %

VSAT stock opened at $18.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.44. Viasat has a 1-year low of $11.76 and a 1-year high of $31.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.80.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 21st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.72) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 24.95% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. Research analysts anticipate that Viasat will post -1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 303.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 11,033.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Viasat from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.17.

Viasat Company Profile

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.