ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. VSAT has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with VSAT positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are many methods shareholders can use to track stocks. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. There are lots of motivations for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action surrounding ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT).
What does the smart money think about ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -11% from the previous quarter.
Judging by the fact that ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there was a specific group of money managers that slashed their positions entirely heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management dumped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we track, comprising about $4.5 million in stock. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into Q2.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT). These stocks are Alcatel Lucent SA (ADR) (NYSE:ALU), Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), Arris Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRS), Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT), and Exelis Inc (NYSE:XLS). This group of stocks are in the communication equipment industry and their market caps are closest to VSAT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Alcatel Lucent SA (ADR) (NYSE:ALU) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN) | 27 | 0 | 12 |
| Arris Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRS) | 18 | 0 | 6 |
| Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT) | 22 | 0 | 1 |
| Exelis Inc (NYSE:XLS) | 21 | 0 | 4 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
