Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 491,972 Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 491,972 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $43,497,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 935.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 352 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viasat in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viasat Stock Performance

VSAT opened at $67.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.28. Viasat Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.10 and a 1 year high of $93.03. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -280.71 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.34). Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.64% and a positive return on equity of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VSAT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Friday, July 17th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of Viasat from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, New Street Research started coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, Director Theresa Wise sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $172,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $759,000. The trade was a 18.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 223,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total value of $18,021,956.04. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 675,861 shares of company stock worth $47,705,388 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Company Profile

Viasat, Inc (NASDAQ: VSAT) provides high‐capacity satellite broadband and wireless communications services to consumer, commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs and operates satellite systems and network infrastructure to deliver secure, high-speed connectivity across remote and underserved regions, as well as managed networking solutions for enterprises and public sector agencies.

Viasat’s product offerings include residential and enterprise satellite internet services, in-flight connectivity for commercial airlines and business jets, and secure networking platforms tailored to defense and intelligence users.