Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 37,300 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,167,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 37,300 shares during the quarter. Viasat comprises approximately 3.0% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Viasat were worth $82,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 935.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Viasat news, Director Richard Baldridge sold 223,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total transaction of $18,021,956.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Garrett Chase sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.86, for a total transaction of $235,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 47,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,851.24. The trade was a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 254,640 shares of company stock worth $20,248,318. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT stock opened at $77.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.65. Viasat Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.13 and a fifty-two week high of $93.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of -320.92 and a beta of 1.76.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. Analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Viasat in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.67.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc is a communications technology company that provides satellite-based connectivity and related services to commercial, government and consumer customers. The company’s offerings include high-speed broadband, satellite communications, network services and connectivity solutions designed for locations where terrestrial networks may be limited or unavailable.

Viasat serves the aviation, maritime, residential broadband, enterprise and government markets. Its services support in-flight internet for commercial and business aircraft, connectivity for ships and offshore operations, broadband access for homes and communities, and secure communications for government and defense customers.