Cove Street Capital LLC Has $2.33 Million Position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Cove Street Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing 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 period. 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 0.21% of Viasat worth $2,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Viasat by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,227 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 3,807 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Viasat by 8.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,523,465 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $18,190,000 after buying an additional 115,909 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its position in Viasat by 361.3% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 77,880 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 60,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 2.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Stock Down 6.5 %

Viasat stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,073,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,622,064. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.76 and its 200-day moving average is $9.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 1.38. Viasat, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $26.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VSAT. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.57.

Viasat Company 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.