South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stock Holdings in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 92.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 336,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 161,552 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Viasat were worth $15,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Viasat by 2,821.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,222,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $111,065,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112,670 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Viasat by 673.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,443,000 after buying an additional 1,206,935 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 64.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,866,000 after buying an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Viasat by 43.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,307,187 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $96,890,000 after buying an additional 1,002,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in Viasat by 15.8% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $85,338,000 after acquiring an additional 796,349 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $288,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,184,162.97. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Theresa Wise sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $172,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $759,000. The trade was a 18.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 442,803 shares of company stock worth $28,944,520 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $70.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -242.03 and a beta of 1.70. Viasat Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.63 and a 1-year high of $93.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.19.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 1st. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.11.

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.