Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Invests $1.79 Million in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 210,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. owned about 0.16% of Viasat at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,516,000 after acquiring an additional 12,802 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Viasat by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 319,471 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after buying an additional 5,573 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Viasat by 264.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,708 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 75,997 shares during the period. Finally, Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $9.31 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.37. 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 data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.