Vise Technologies Inc. Takes $839,000 Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 9,347 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $839,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Viasat by 483.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 90,680 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Viasat by 189.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 452,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,692,000 after purchasing an additional 296,612 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 673.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,935 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 6.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VSAT. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on Viasat in a report on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research assumed coverage on Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, August 10th. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In related news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $25,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,082,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,083,012.96. This represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 223,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total transaction of $18,021,956.04. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 671,861 shares of company stock valued at $47,405,788. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $74.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -311.33 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.37. Viasat Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.10 and a fifty-two week high of $93.03.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.64% and a positive return on equity of 1.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Viasat Profile

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.