South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stock Holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 98.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 675,378 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 335,082 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Viasat were worth $5,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 274.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 10,259 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 7,519 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of VSAT opened at $9.00 on Monday. Viasat, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Profile

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.