Lodge Hill Capital LLC Sells 350,000 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Lodge Hill Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 48.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 375,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 350,000 shares during the period. Viasat comprises about 2.5% of Lodge Hill Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Lodge Hill Capital LLC owned 0.28% of Viasat worth $17,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $830,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 797.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 117,019 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,032,000 after buying an additional 103,981 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Viasat by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 38,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 17,700 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its position in Viasat by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 84,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after acquiring an additional 42,000 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Viasat during the first quarter worth $2,757,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VSAT. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price objective on Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $70.19 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.07 and a 200-day moving average of $58.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.41. Viasat Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.63 and a twelve month high of $93.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of -242.03 and a beta of 1.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 0.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John P. Stenbit sold 528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.79, for a total value of $46,881.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 722 shares in the company, valued at $64,106.38. The trade was a 42.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $1,945,732.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 213,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,306,087.70. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 442,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,944,520 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat 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.