Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 30.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 236,694 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,377 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.19% of Viasat worth $2,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viasat by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,184,209 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $340,549,000 after acquiring an additional 286,872 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Viasat by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,025 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in Viasat in the 1st quarter worth $478,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Viasat by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,544 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,083,000 after buying an additional 4,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 20.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,453 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 10,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VSAT shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viasat from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.33.

Insider Activity

In other Viasat news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 2,811,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $55,947,695.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,545,334 shares in the company, valued at $170,052,146.60. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Stock Down 1.5 %

Viasat stock opened at $11.23 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 1.34. Viasat, Inc. has a one year low of $10.87 and a one year high of $29.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 22.13% and a negative return on equity of 19.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.83) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.