Viasat Inc. $VSAT Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 32.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,734 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,729 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Viasat were worth $522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 233.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Viasat by 74.7% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Viasat by 331.3% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,779 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Viasat by 2,412.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In related news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total transaction of $80,799.09. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 68,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,439,961.59. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 197,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,111,991. This trade represents a 33.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,049 shares of company stock worth $3,281,046. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viasat Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $34.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11. Viasat Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.36 and a 1 year high of $43.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.02.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. Viasat’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.75.

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.