Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 264.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,708 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 75,997 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.08% of Viasat worth $891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VSAT. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in shares of Viasat by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,419,223 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,766,000 after buying an additional 969,942 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Viasat by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $53,083,000 after buying an additional 276,376 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,801,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat during the third quarter worth about $1,980,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 115.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 282,475 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,373,000 after buying an additional 151,590 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viasat Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $9.00 on Friday. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $26.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.30.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viasat

In other news, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total value of $32,824.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,226,732.71. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VSAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Viasat in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viasat from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viasat currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.43.

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.