Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 872,784 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Viasat Inc. by 6.3%, now owning 14,646,644 shares valued at approximately $152.62 million.
• Other significant investors, including Two Sigma Investments and Bank of America, also raised their positions in Viasat, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Viasat posted a quarterly revenue of $1.17 billion, surpassing analyst estimates, and reported an EPS of $0.17, exceeding expectations significantly.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,646,644 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 872,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.34% of Viasat worth $152,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 233.4% during the first 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. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 46.4% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,367 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the first quarter valued at approximately $378,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 8.0% during the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 94,145 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 6,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the first quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Up 9.2%

Shares of VSAT traded up $2.59 on Tuesday, hitting $30.80. 5,647,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,849,524. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of -6.67 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.77. Viasat Inc. has a one year low of $6.69 and a one year high of $30.92.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VSAT. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. B. Riley decreased 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. William Blair raised shares of Viasat from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.13.

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.