Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Sold by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 386,516 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 536,030 shares during the period. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. owned about 0.31% of Viasat worth $4,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viasat by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,532,375 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $226,711,000 after acquiring an additional 348,166 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Viasat by 25.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 796,368 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,114,000 after purchasing an additional 162,804 shares during the last quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC grew its stake in Viasat by 17.7% in the first quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 766,753 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,871,000 after purchasing an additional 115,224 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,511,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Viasat by 7.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 460,602 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 31,991 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $12.75 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.29. Viasat, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.76 and a fifty-two week high of $29.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. Viasat had a negative return on equity of 19.76% and a negative net margin of 22.13%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSAT has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Viasat from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $55,947,695.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,545,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,052,146.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.