Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Position in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 630.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 122,751 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 105,952 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Viasat were worth $5,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Viasat by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 109,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 90,680 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 189.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 452,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,692,000 after purchasing an additional 296,612 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 673.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,386,089 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,935 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viasat by 64.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,866,242 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $29,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Viasat by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,357,000 after buying an additional 14,575 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viasat

In other Viasat news, CEO Mark D. Dankberg sold 400,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total value of $25,904,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,082,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,083,012.96. The trade was a 26.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 27,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total transaction of $1,945,732.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 213,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,306,087.70. The trade was a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 438,803 shares of company stock worth $28,655,600. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $74.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of -256.10 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.41. Viasat Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.11 and a 52-week high of $93.03.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 0.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSAT has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Friday, July 17th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Viasat from $58.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Viasat in a report on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

About Viasat

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.