KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 6,000 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Viasat were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Viasat by 233.4% in 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 period. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Viasat by 74.7% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,836 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Viasat by 2,412.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Viasat in the first quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Viasat by 46.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,367 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

Viasat stock opened at $35.69 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.64. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of -7.73 and a beta of 1.21. Viasat Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.69 and a 1-year high of $38.67.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. Viasat’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $3,100,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 197,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,111,991. This represents a 33.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSAT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $10.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.29.

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.