Atom Investors LP Sells 54,118 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Atom Investors LP reduced its stake in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 117,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 54,118 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Viasat were worth $4,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 8.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $497,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,024 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 15.8% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,338,000 after purchasing an additional 796,349 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,050,883 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $139,601,000 after purchasing an additional 743,696 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 38.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,713,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $108,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,328,854 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $115,266,000 after purchasing an additional 273,369 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $62.45 on Wednesday. Viasat Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.40 and a 52-week high of $89.79. The stock has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of -215.34 and a beta of 1.71. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.02.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. Viasat’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VSAT. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, Director Theresa Wise sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $172,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,000. This trade represents a 18.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.50, for a total transaction of $290,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 38,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,327.50. This trade represents a 9.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 434,275 shares of company stock valued at $28,359,079. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.