American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 1,318,524 Shares of Viasat Inc. $VSAT

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 96.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,680,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,318,524 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.00% of Viasat worth $39,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,753 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC raised its position in Viasat by 8.5% in the second quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 12,115 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Viasat by 0.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 431,088 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viasat by 9.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 78,623 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Stock Performance

Shares of VSAT stock opened at $34.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of -7.43 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.54 and a 200-day moving average of $24.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Viasat Inc. has a one year low of $7.36 and a one year high of $43.59.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, November 8th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.20. Viasat had a negative net margin of 13.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viasat Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $3,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 197,161 shares in the company, valued at $6,111,991. This represents a 33.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Benjamin Edward Palmer sold 2,780 shares of Viasat stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.06, for a total value of $100,246.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,585.86. This represents a 9.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 105,049 shares of company stock valued at $3,281,046 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Viasat from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Viasat in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.75.

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.