Venturi Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,693 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Viasat by 2.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Viasat by 9.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 26,172 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT opened at $8.67 on Wednesday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $9.32 and a 200 day moving average of $11.00. Viasat, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % 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, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

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.