Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $219.35 Million Stock Holdings in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 18.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,789,539 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Viasat were worth $219,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Viasat by 2,821.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,222,981 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $111,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,112,670 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Viasat by 673.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,935 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viasat by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,338 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Viasat by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 5,845,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,338,000 after purchasing an additional 796,349 shares during the period. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. grew its position in shares of Viasat by 227.3% during the 1st quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 832,925 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,148,000 after purchasing an additional 578,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on VSAT shares. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price target on Viasat and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.11.

Viasat Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VSAT opened at $74.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -256.10 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. Viasat Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.11 and a 12 month high of $93.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.02.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a positive return on equity of 1.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other news, Director John P. Stenbit sold 528 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.79, for a total value of $46,881.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,106.38. This represents a 42.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $1,945,732.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 213,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,306,087.70. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 438,803 shares of company stock valued at $28,655,600. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat 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.