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

Cove Street Capital LLC lowered its position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 273,406 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 104,150 shares during the quarter. Viasat makes up 2.7% of Cove Street Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Cove Street Capital LLC’s holdings in Viasat were worth $2,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $10.92 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $9.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.92. Viasat, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.