Garrett Chase Sells 4,000 Shares of Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total transaction of $299,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,965,301.10. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $72.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.95 and a 200-day moving average of $63.80. Viasat Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.10 and a 52 week high of $93.03. The company has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -301.92 and a beta of 1.72.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.64% and a positive return on equity of 1.44%. 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 previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Viasat by 483.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 90,680 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 189.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 452,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,692,000 after purchasing an additional 296,612 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 673.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,935 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 64.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,866,000 after buying an additional 1,128,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 14,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VSAT shares. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Viasat in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on Viasat in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, New Street Research started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.67.

About Viasat

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.