Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Viasat Call Options (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 66,045 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,566% compared to the average daily volume of 3,965 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial raised Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.86.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total transaction of $80,799.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,961.59. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Camellia E. Fitzgerald sold 2,810 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $134,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $477,408. This trade represents a 22.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 356,559 shares of company stock worth $13,140,521. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viasat

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. now owns 13,110 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Viasat by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 121,922 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,201,000 after purchasing an additional 30,147 shares during the period. Brightline Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Viasat by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Brightline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,094,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $72,159,000 after buying an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at about $256,000. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $48.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.86 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.09 and its 200-day moving average is $34.53. Viasat has a 12-month low of $7.36 and a 12-month high of $49.68.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.