PDT Partners LLC Raises Stake in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

PDT Partners LLC grew its stake in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 170.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 448,598 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 282,741 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC owned 0.35% of Viasat worth $3,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Viasat by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,229,116 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,460,000 after buying an additional 256,389 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA bought a new position in Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $3,516,000 after buying an additional 12,802 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 115.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 282,475 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 151,590 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,773,860 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $117,216,000 after buying an additional 194,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

Viasat Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ VSAT traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $9.38. 1,870,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,745,268. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.26 and a 200-day moving average of $9.34. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of -2.79 and a beta of 1.06. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a negative net margin of 9.49%. As a group, analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on VSAT. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Viasat from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.