51,773 Shares in Viasat Inc. $VSAT Acquired by Equitable Holdings Inc.

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 51,773 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,650,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat in the first quarter worth $25,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 935.3% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Viasat in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total value 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 trade represents a 26.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.41, for a total transaction of $249,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,239 shares in the company, valued at $2,136,855.99. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 675,861 shares of company stock worth $47,705,388. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Barclays set a $49.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Viasat in a report on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.67.

Viasat Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $72.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Viasat Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.10 and a 12-month high of $93.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -303.04 and a beta of 1.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.26 and its 200 day moving average is $64.26.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Viasat’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Viasat Company 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.