Insider Selling: Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Director Sells $46,483.36 in Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Director John Stenbit sold 616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.46, for a total value of $46,483.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 634 shares in the company, valued at $47,841.64. The trade was a 49.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Viasat Price Performance

Viasat stock traded down $5.13 on Wednesday, reaching $81.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,019,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -279.41 and a beta of 1.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.06. Viasat Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.28 and a twelve month high of $93.03.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly 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). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Viasat by 935.3% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the first quarter worth $25,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the first quarter worth about $51,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Viasat

Here are the key news stories impacting Viasat this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Viasat reported fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.17 per share, exceeding the $0.10 consensus estimate and improving from a loss of $0.43 per share a year earlier. Lower interest expense helped narrow losses, while management reaffirmed its growth outlook. Viasat Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates Despite Lower Y/Y Revenues
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings call highlighted record awards for Viasat’s government-focused Direct Access to Technology business, improving cash flow, and two ViaSat-3 satellites nearing service. Expanded satellite capacity could support future growth in aviation, maritime and government markets. Viasat Q1 Earnings Call Centers on DAT Growth and ViaSat-3
• Neutral Sentiment: ViaSat-3 deployment progress and recent government contract wins have helped drive a 21.4% three-month rally, but investors are watching whether commercialization can translate the additional capacity into sustained revenue growth. Can Viasat’s Three-Month Rally Keep Climbing or Stall Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue of approximately $1.16 billion fell short of the roughly $1.20 billion analyst expectation and declined about 1.2% year over year. The revenue shortfall suggests that operational execution and demand growth remain uneven despite the EPS beat. Viasat Stock Hits the Brakes After Q1 Report
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and investors also question whether VSAT is priced too aggressively following its recent advance. Commercialization risk, intense competition and the company’s history of losses make the valuation more difficult to justify until ViaSat-3 growth becomes visible in reported results. Why ViaSat Stock Dropped After Earnings

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VSAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $49.00 price target on Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price objective on Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.78.

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.