Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 15,464 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Viasat by 2.4% in the first quarter, buying 15,464 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 659,634 shares worth about $30.2 million.
• Viasat reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings of -$0.02 per share versus expectations of $0.32 and revenue of $1.17 billion, slightly below estimates but up 2.1% from a year earlier.
• Analyst sentiment remains split: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $84.11, even as some firms upgraded or downgraded the shares and insiders recently sold stock.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 659,634 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,464 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.49% of Viasat worth $30,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,446 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,360 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 46,952 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,145 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,039 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $71.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -246.48 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.94 and a 200 day moving average of $56.97. Viasat Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.00 and a 52 week high of $93.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VSAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 target price on Viasat and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.11.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In other Viasat news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $1,945,732.28. Following the sale, the director owned 213,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,306,087.70. This represents a 11.28% 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 this link. Also, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $25,904,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,082,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,083,012.96. This represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 438,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,655,600 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Viasat Profile

Viasat, Inc NASDAQ: VSAT provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat's product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VSAT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.