Citigroup Inc. Acquires 620,947 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. significantly increased its stake in Viasat Inc. by 417% during the first quarter, acquiring 620,947 additional shares for a total of 769,857 shares valued at approximately $8.02 million.
• Other institutional investors have also raised their stakes in Viasat, leading to institutional ownership of over 86% of the company's stock.
• In its recent quarterly earnings, Viasat reported an earnings per share of $0.17, exceeding estimates by $0.32, alongside a revenue of $1.17 billion, showing a 4% increase from the previous year.

Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 417.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 769,857 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 620,947 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Viasat worth $8,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in Viasat by 2.9% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 52,738 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Viasat by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 16,673 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Viasat by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,367 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 72,132 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 233.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSAT traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $26.61. 1,352,436 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,625,244. Viasat Inc. has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $28.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 1.20. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.Viasat's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.13.

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.