South Dakota Investment Council Grows Position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 98.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 675,378 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 335,082 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.53% of Viasat worth $5,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 63.7% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 274.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on VSAT shares. Barclays decreased their price target 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. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $9.00 on Monday. Viasat, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.69 and a twelve month high of $26.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.34 and its 200 day moving average is $11.21. 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 market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

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.