Viasat Inc. $VSAT Shares Sold by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd lessened its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 73.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 25,870 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Viasat were worth $280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 56.3% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 30,265 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Viasat by 33.1% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 67,557 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,979,000 after buying an additional 16,792 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viasat by 71.4% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Viasat by 55.0% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 61,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 21,900 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VSAT shares. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.75.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total value of $100,246.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,585.86. The trade was a 9.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $7,018,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,534,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,862,904.37. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 356,529 shares of company stock valued at $13,105,888 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT opened at $40.42 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.11 and a beta of 1.39. Viasat Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.36 and a 1-year high of $43.59.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 3.65% and a negative net margin of 11.40%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.