Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Takes $3.83 Million Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. has acquired a new stake in Viasat Inc., purchasing 262,500 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million, representing 0.20% of the company's stock.
• Insider activity reports indicate that Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of Viasat, decreasing his ownership by 33.65% after the sale.
• Viasat recently received an upgrade from a "strong sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, with analysts projecting a consensus target price of $23.29 for the stock.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 262,500 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,832,000. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.20% of Viasat as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,646,644 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $152,618,000 after purchasing an additional 872,784 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 2.9% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,190,232 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $53,913,000 after acquiring an additional 145,868 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Viasat by 64.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,866,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 26.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,384,942 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $24,851,000 after acquiring an additional 497,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viasat in the first quarter valued at about $24,695,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 197,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,111,991. This represents a 33.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VSAT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.29.

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $36.68 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.94 and a beta of 1.21. Viasat Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $38.67.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.

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