Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 75,997 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 264.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 approximately 0.08% of Viasat worth $891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VSAT. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Viasat by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,445,811 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $53,083,000 after acquiring an additional 276,376 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 28.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 969,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viasat by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,508,056 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $29,950,000 after buying an additional 122,472 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Viasat by 8.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,523,465 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $18,190,000 after buying an additional 115,909 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viasat by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 400,320 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $4,780,000 after buying an additional 24,889 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VSAT. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark J. Miller sold 3,564 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $32,824.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 350,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,226,732.71. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.67. 4,379,725 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,471,574. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $9.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.69 and a 12 month high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current 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.