UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,266 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,181 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.08% of Viasat worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the second quarter worth $293,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Viasat by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 40,775 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 796,368 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,114,000 after buying an additional 162,804 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 350,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $9.14 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.34. Viasat, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.69 and a 1 year high of $29.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on VSAT shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Needham & Company LLC cut 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.