Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Sold by Cove Street Capital LLC

Cove Street Capital LLC decreased its stake in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,406 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 104,150 shares during the period. Viasat makes up 2.7% of Cove Street Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Cove Street Capital LLC owned 0.21% of Viasat worth $2,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Viasat by 2.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $10.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.78 and a 200-day moving average of $9.92. Viasat, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. On average, analysts anticipate that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.57.

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.