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

Key Points

• Viasat CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares at an average price of $74.90, totaling $299,600. The sale reduced his direct ownership by 13.23% to 26,239 shares.
• Viasat shares recently traded at $72.28, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $1.17 billion and an EPS loss of $0.02, missing analyst estimates.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67; institutional investors own approximately 86.05% of the stock.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $299,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,965,301.10. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT traded down $2.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $72.28. 1,423,712 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,109,094. The company's 50 day moving average price is $74.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.37. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of -301.17 and a beta of 1.72. Viasat Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.10 and a 52 week high of $93.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) 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). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%.Viasat's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. New Street Research began coverage on Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,863,374,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter worth $830,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,902,000. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 92.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth $5,423,000. 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.

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