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

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $288,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 30,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,184,162.97. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $70.19 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.96. The company has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -242.03 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Viasat Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.63 and a 52 week high of $93.03.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VSAT. Barclays set a $49.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, May 29th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Viasat in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.11.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Viasat during the fourth quarter worth $830,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 797.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 117,019 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,032,000 after buying an additional 103,981 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 38,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 17,700 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 84,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 42,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth about $2,757,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.