Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Director Richard Baldridge Sells 223,542 Shares of Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Director Richard Baldridge sold 223,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total transaction of $18,021,956.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.52. 1,244,464 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,136,139. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.12. The company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -352.17 and a beta of 1.72. 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 $25.50 and a 52 week high of $93.03.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VSAT. Zacks Research raised Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price target on Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.67.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VSAT. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth about $830,000. South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 336,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,391,000 after purchasing an additional 161,552 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 38,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 17,700 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 84,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,895,000 after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the first quarter worth approximately $2,757,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.