Insider Selling: Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Sells $288,920.00 in Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $288,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,239 shares in the company, valued at $2,184,162.97. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $77.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -267.59 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.22. Viasat Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.27 and a fifty-two week high of $93.03. 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 (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VSAT. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased 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 issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 2,821.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,222,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $111,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112,670 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 673.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,935 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,338 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Viasat by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,307,187 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $96,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tema ETFs LLC raised its holdings in Viasat by 229,857.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 965,820 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $86,740,000 after buying an additional 965,400 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.