Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Insider Sells $33,750,000.00 in Stock

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $8.98 on Thursday. Viasat, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $26.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -2.67 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.28% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VSAT shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 176.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.