Sculptor Capital LP Grows Stock Holdings in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Sculptor Capital LP increased its stake in Viasat Inc. by 16.7%, purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 175,000 shares valued at $1.82 million.
• Institutional investors own 86.05% of Viasat's stock, with multiple funds making significant investments, including Long Focus Capital Management acquiring a new $24.7 million position.
• Viasat reported a Q1 EPS of $0.17, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 4.0% year-over-year, although the company maintains a negative net margin of 13.11%.

Sculptor Capital LP lifted its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 175,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Sculptor Capital LP owned approximately 0.14% of Viasat worth $1,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viasat by 233.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 1st quarter worth $63,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Viasat by 46.4% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,367 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth $93,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter worth $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT stock traded down $1.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.50. 4,055,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,666,724. The company 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 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $33.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $20.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.56. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.