2,370,000 Shares in Viasat Inc. $VSAT Purchased by Long Focus Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat Inc. in Q1, purchasing 2,370,000 shares valued at approximately $24.7 million, making Viasat its 26th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including Raymond James Financial Inc. and First Trust Advisors LP, have recently adjusted their stakes in Viasat, reflecting a growing interest in the company.
• Viasat reported an EPS of $0.17 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $1.17 billion—up 4% year-over-year—though it maintains a negative net margin of 13.11%.

Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,370,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $24,695,000. Viasat makes up about 0.8% of Long Focus Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Long Focus Capital Management LLC owned about 1.84% of Viasat as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VSAT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 1st quarter worth $20,593,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 538.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,136,675 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $9,673,000 after purchasing an additional 958,706 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,646,644 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $152,618,000 after purchasing an additional 872,784 shares in the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Viasat in the 4th quarter worth $7,170,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Viasat by 149.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,194 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $11,618,000 after acquiring an additional 818,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT traded down $1.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.50. 4,055,104 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,666,716. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $20.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.39 and a beta of 1.27. Viasat Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.69 and a 12-month high of $33.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 6.37% and a negative net margin of 13.11%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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 subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. B. Riley reduced 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.