Empowered Funds LLC Invests $26.48 Million in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 294,815 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,477,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viasat in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 935.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Theresa Wise sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.69, for a total transaction of $211,725.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $931,590. This represents a 18.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $299,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,239 shares in the company, valued at $1,965,301.10. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 675,861 shares of company stock valued at $47,705,388. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viasat Stock Up 1.7%

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 1 year low of $26.10 and a 1 year high of $93.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of -303.04 and a beta of 1.72.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Viasat in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

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.