Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 13,882 Shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 427,004 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,882 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.33% of Viasat worth $4,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VSAT. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Viasat by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Viasat by 850.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 3,546 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,473 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VSAT shares. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Viasat from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Viasat from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Viasat Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of Viasat stock opened at $15.72 on Friday. Viasat Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.24 and a 200 day moving average of $10.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 1.17.

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.