Geode Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,497,451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 80,863 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.86% of Viasat worth $36,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Viasat by 2,412.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 1st quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Viasat from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Viasat from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.75.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $34.87 on Thursday. Viasat Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.36 and a twelve month high of $43.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In related news, SVP Robert James Blair sold 2,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.61, for a total value of $80,799.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 68,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,961.59. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at $6,111,991. This trade represents a 33.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 105,049 shares of company stock valued at $3,281,046. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.