Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase Sells 4,000 Shares of Company Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.86, for a total value of $235,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 47,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,851.24. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Viasat Stock Down 5.7%

Shares of Viasat stock opened at $59.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Viasat Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.13 and a 12 month high of $93.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.63. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of -245.83 and a beta of 1.76.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on VSAT shares. Zacks Research raised Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $1,863,374,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the second quarter worth about $127,283,000. Tema ETFs LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 229,857.1% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 965,820 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,740,000 after acquiring an additional 965,400 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 8,261.7% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 976,646 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $87,713,000 after acquiring an additional 964,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the second quarter worth about $80,124,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc is a communications technology company that provides satellite-based connectivity and related services to commercial, government and consumer customers. The company’s offerings include high-speed broadband, satellite communications, network services and connectivity solutions designed for locations where terrestrial networks may be limited or unavailable.

Viasat serves the aviation, maritime, residential broadband, enterprise and government markets. Its services support in-flight internet for commercial and business aircraft, connectivity for ships and offshore operations, broadband access for homes and communities, and secure communications for government and defense customers.