Viasat Inc. $VSAT Stake Cut by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,761 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 13,927 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned 0.14% of Viasat worth $9,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Viasat by 10,321.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 96,194 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,406,000 after purchasing an additional 95,271 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 630.7% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 122,751 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $5,651,000 after buying an additional 105,952 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viasat in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. raised its stake in Viasat by 227.3% during the 1st quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 832,925 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,148,000 after acquiring an additional 578,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VSAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. New Street Research began coverage on Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price target on Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $25,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,082,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,083,012.96. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.41, for a total transaction of $249,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,136,855.99. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 438,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,655,600 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Down 5.5%

NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $69.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.79 and a beta of 1.70. Viasat Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.00 and a 1-year high of $93.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $71.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.98.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.