Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Director Richard A. Baldridge Sells 100,000 Shares

Key Points

• Viasat Inc. Director Richard Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of stock at an average price of $31.00, resulting in a total transaction value of $3.1 million and a 33.65% decrease in his ownership position.
• The company reported $1.17 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, while EPS was $0.17, surpassing a consensus expectation of -$0.15.
• Currently, Viasat holds a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with target prices varying, including a recent increase from Needham & Company from $16.00 to $25.00, indicating potential growth prospects.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,111,991. This represents a 33.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Viasat Stock Down 1.8%

Viasat stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.61. 13,359,016 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,272,438. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $24.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.48. Viasat Inc. has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $34.05. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on VSAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Viasat by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,110,945 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $9,454,000 after purchasing an additional 64,361 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 149.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,194 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $11,618,000 after purchasing an additional 818,301 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 39,799 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 16,735 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 541.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 443,225 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $3,772,000 after buying an additional 374,147 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $645,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company's stock.

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.