State of Alaska Department of Revenue Increases Holdings in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,557 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,792 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.05% of Viasat worth $1,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Viasat by 331.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,779 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $42.84 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.21. Viasat Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.36 and a 1-year high of $43.59. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.75.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total transaction of $100,246.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,585.86. The trade was a 9.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total transaction of $4,034,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,434,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,887,617.62. This represents a 6.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 356,529 shares of company stock worth $13,105,888 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.