Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) SVP Sells $139,740.00 in Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) SVP Benjamin Palmer sold 2,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.87, for a total value of $139,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 28,087 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,438.69. This represents a 6.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Benjamin Edward Palmer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 1st, Benjamin Palmer sold 2,000 shares of Viasat stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.75, for a total value of $133,500.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Benjamin Palmer sold 2,400 shares of Viasat stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.46, for a total value of $181,104.00.

Viasat Trading Down 4.7%

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $70.87 on Thursday. Viasat Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.13 and a twelve month high of $93.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.44. The company has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -295.29 and a beta of 1.76.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VSAT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Viasat in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MRA Advisory Group raised its holdings in Viasat by 163.4% in the 3rd quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 16,052 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 9,959 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Viasat by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,140 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 8,261.7% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 976,646 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $87,713,000 after acquiring an additional 964,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.