Legato Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 16,480 Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,480 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 6,815.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 899 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Viasat by 7,380.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,244 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other Viasat news, SVP Craig Andrew Miller sold 5,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $263,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 21,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,062,600. This trade represents a 19.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.21, for a total value of $110,904.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 25,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,166.51. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,071 shares of company stock worth $1,804,437. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VSAT shares. Barclays raised Viasat from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $49.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. New Street Research started coverage on Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Viasat from $52.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Viasat from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.50.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $81.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.15. Viasat Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.61 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The stock has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a PE ratio of -31.43 and a beta of 1.66.

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.