Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) SVP Sells 11,893 Shares of Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) SVP Craig Miller sold 11,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $851,657.73. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,976,827.70. This represents a 22.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Viasat Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.90. 1,494,317 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,041,932. The firm has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -278.75 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.68. Viasat Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.13 and a 52-week high of $93.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.89.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.64% and a positive return on equity of 1.44%. Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,863,374,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,902,000. South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 336,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $15,391,000 after purchasing an additional 161,552 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at about $5,423,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $127,283,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Viasat in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc is a communications company that provides satellite connectivity and related services to commercial, government and consumer customers. Its offerings include broadband internet, in-flight connectivity, maritime communications, enterprise networking and secure communications for government and defense applications.

The company operates a fleet of communications satellites and develops supporting ground infrastructure, network services and connectivity equipment. Viasat serves customers across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and other international markets, including airlines, shipping companies, businesses, government agencies and households in areas where terrestrial broadband is limited.

Viasat was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.