South Dakota Investment Council Reduces Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 212,504 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 290,191 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Viasat were worth $6,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. OCO Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in Viasat by 60.0% in the second quarter. OCO Capital Partners L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $87,600,000 after buying an additional 2,250,000 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 12,255.3% in the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,404,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $41,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,430 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 96.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,680,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $39,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,524 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,024 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 673.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,206,935 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.86.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, CAO Shawn Lynn Duffy sold 51,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $1,872,842.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,043.98. This represents a 89.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Camellia E. Fitzgerald sold 2,810 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $134,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $477,408. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 354,290 shares of company stock worth $13,059,722 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of VSAT opened at $45.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of -17.69 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.76 and its 200 day moving average is $36.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.13. Viasat Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.36 and a fifty-two week high of $50.24.

Viasat 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.