Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Stock Holdings Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 400,320 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 24,889 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.31% of Viasat worth $4,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSAT. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Viasat by 176.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viasat in the second quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Price Performance

Viasat stock opened at $8.41 on Friday. Viasat, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.69 and a 52 week high of $29.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.69 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 8.73%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($6.16) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays cut their price target on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viasat currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.33.

Viasat 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.