American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 256,389 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,229,116 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 256,389 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.96% of Viasat worth $10,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in Viasat in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Viasat in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Viasat during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Viasat by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VSAT shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.57.

Insider Activity at Viasat

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,158,006. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viasat Price Performance

VSAT stock opened at $10.28 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.76 and a 200-day moving average of $9.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 1.38. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $26.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.