Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $2.84 Million Holdings in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,862 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,199 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Viasat were worth $2,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the second quarter valued at about $1,099,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,066,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in Viasat by 6.8% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,541,636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $80,908,000 after purchasing an additional 351,404 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viasat during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,498,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter valued at $1,601,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Trading Up 11.0%

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $46.28 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.92. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.87 and a beta of 1.46. Viasat Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.36 and a twelve month high of $49.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.73% and a negative net margin of 7.34%.Viasat’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $7,018,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,534,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,862,904.37. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Shawn Lynn Duffy sold 51,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $1,872,842.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,021 shares in the company, valued at $219,043.98. This trade represents a 89.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 359,339 shares of company stock worth $13,240,768. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.86.

About Viasat

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.