Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Takes Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 42,353 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 8.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after buying an additional 1,289,024 shares during the last quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. grew its stake in Viasat by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $87,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,000 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 15.8% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,338,000 after purchasing an additional 796,349 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 6.8% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,541,636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $80,908,000 after purchasing an additional 351,404 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 38.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,713,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $108,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VSAT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.86.

Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT opened at $43.79 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.97. Viasat Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.36 and a 1 year high of $50.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.91 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, CAO Shawn Lynn Duffy sold 51,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $1,872,842.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,021 shares in the company, valued at $219,043.98. This trade represents a 89.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 200,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $7,018,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,534,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,862,904.37. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 354,290 shares of company stock valued at $13,059,722. Corporate insiders own 2.20% 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.