South Dakota Investment Council Purchases 335,082 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 98.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 675,378 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 335,082 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.53% of Viasat worth $5,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 274.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 10,259 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 7,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of Viasat stock traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $8.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,449,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,397,717. Viasat, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.69 and a twelve month high of $26.70. The business's 50 day moving average is $9.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.61 and a beta of 1.35.

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Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. Analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.57.

Viasat Profile

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.