LPL Financial LLC Buys 10,914 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 33.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,596 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,914 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Viasat were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Viasat during the first quarter worth $34,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,313 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Viasat in the 1st quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Viasat in the 1st quarter valued at about $168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.28% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $18.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.36, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.57. Viasat, Inc. has a one year low of $15.02 and a one year high of $47.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VSAT. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Viasat from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Viasat from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Viasat from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other Viasat news, insider James Michael Dodd sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.31, for a total value of $156,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,071.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider James Michael Dodd sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.31, for a total transaction of $156,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,856 shares in the company, valued at $559,071.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 3,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.55, for a total transaction of $96,204.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,964 shares of company stock worth $262,251. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.