Viasat Inc. $VSAT Shares Sold by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming lowered its holdings in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 39.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,383 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,447 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Viasat were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth about $830,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 797.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 117,019 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,032,000 after acquiring an additional 103,981 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in Viasat by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 38,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 17,700 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Viasat by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 84,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,895,000 after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,107,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $74.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of -256.10 and a beta of 1.70. Viasat Inc. has a one year low of $14.11 and a one year high of $93.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.19.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John P. Stenbit sold 653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $46,846.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,597 shares in the company, valued at $2,123,288.78. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.41, for a total transaction of $249,640.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,136,855.99. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 438,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,655,600 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research cut Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price objective on Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Viasat Company Profile

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.