Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 3,417,316 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,897,337 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,417,316 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.56% of Viasat worth $219,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 1.8% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 49,693 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $978,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $641,000. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $928,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Viasat by 19.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 976,549 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $18,027,000 after acquiring an additional 157,803 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT stock remained flat at $18.09 during trading on Friday. 1,012,954 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,126,561. Viasat, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.02 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.85). Viasat had a return on equity of 4.52% and a net margin of 6.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Viasat from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.17.

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.