Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Reduces Stock Position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management trimmed its position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,233 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,606 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Viasat were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in Viasat by 63.7% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake 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 worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 9.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 26,172 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Viasat during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VSAT. Barclays reduced their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Viasat in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.43.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT opened at $9.24 on Friday. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $26.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. Viasat’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($6.16) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.