Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its stake in Viasat Inc. by 43.6% during the second quarter, owning approximately 0.21% of the company, valued at about $4.07 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Viasat, with the stock having a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.29.
• Viasat reported a positive earnings surprise for the quarter, with earnings per share of $0.17, exceeding expectations of ($0.15) and showing a 4.0% year-over-year revenue increase.

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 278,500 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 84,500 shares during the quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. owned about 0.21% of Viasat worth $4,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,646,644 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $152,618,000 after acquiring an additional 872,784 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Viasat by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 5,190,232 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $53,913,000 after purchasing an additional 145,868 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viasat by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,866,000 after buying an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,384,942 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 497,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viasat in the 1st quarter valued at about $24,695,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.29.

Viasat Trading Up 0.4%

VSAT opened at $37.50 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $31.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Viasat Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $38.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.13 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viasat news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $3,100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at $6,111,991. This trade represents a 33.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viasat Company Profile

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.

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