Cove Street Capital LLC Sells 104,150 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Cove Street Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 273,406 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 104,150 shares during the quarter. Viasat accounts for about 2.7% of Cove Street Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Cove Street Capital LLC owned about 0.21% of Viasat worth $2,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Viasat by 28.1% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $52,766,000 after purchasing an additional 969,942 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Viasat by 150.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 706,792 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $6,015,000 after purchasing an additional 424,317 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viasat by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,887,537 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $16,063,000 after purchasing an additional 364,072 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in Viasat by 98.5% in the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 675,378 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,747,000 after acquiring an additional 335,082 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Viasat by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $53,083,000 after acquiring an additional 276,376 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,822,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,850. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.38. Viasat, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $26.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.80.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VSAT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.57.

About Viasat

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.