Geode Capital Management LLC Has $29.95 Million Holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,508,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 122,472 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.95% of Viasat worth $29,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VSAT. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Viasat by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 4.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,455 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Viasat by 8.3% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,044 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Viasat by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Viasat by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 63,656 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 report on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America reduced 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 dropped their price target on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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 investment 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.33.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT opened at $9.37 on Friday. Viasat, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $29.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.27 and a 200 day moving average of $13.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.00 and a beta of 1.34.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($6.16) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.