Insider Selling: Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Sells $299,600.00 in Stock

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $299,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,965,301.10. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT stock opened at $71.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -297.96 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 1 year low of $26.10 and a 1 year high of $93.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.04.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Viasat

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 4.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,940 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Viasat by 2.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,605 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Viasat by 935.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,446 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VSAT. Zacks Research raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, July 17th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.67.

Viasat Company Profile

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.