Northern Trust Corp Buys 45,602 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Viasat Inc. by 4.1%, now owning approximately 0.90% of the company, worth $12.05 million.
• Viasat reported a quarterly earnings of $0.17 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of ($0.15) and achieving revenue of $1.17 billion.
• Several analysts have recently updated their ratings on Viasat, with a notable increase in price targets, including JPMorgan raising it from $10.00 to $23.00.

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,156,547 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 45,602 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.90% of Viasat worth $12,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ VSAT traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $29.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,548,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,991,138. Viasat Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $33.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.38. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.31 and a beta of 1.27.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Viasat from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Viasat from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently 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.