Insider Selling: Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Sells $249,640.00 in Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.41, for a total transaction of $249,640.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,136,855.99. This trade represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,966,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,986,453. Viasat Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.04 and a 12-month high of $89.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.09. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of -214.57 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.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 0.73%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research began coverage on Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price objective on Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viasat by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,958 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $497,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,024 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position 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 buying an additional 796,349 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 18.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,789,539 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $219,346,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 38.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,713,581 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $108,808,000 after buying an additional 1,033,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 8.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 273,369 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.