Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys New Shares in Viasat Inc. $VSAT

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 132,523 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,902,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Viasat during the second quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Viasat during the second quarter valued at $80,124,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,085,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Viasat in the 2nd quarter worth about $486,000. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,423,000. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viasat Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ VSAT opened at $74.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.15. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of -308.46 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Viasat Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.62 and a 12 month 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 the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Viasat had a positive return on equity of 1.44% and a negative net margin of 0.64%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Viasat Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Garrett L. Chase sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $288,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 30,239 shares in the company, valued at $2,184,162.97. The trade was a 11.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard A. Baldridge sold 223,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.62, for a total value of $18,021,956.04. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 671,861 shares of company stock worth $47,405,788 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Viasat from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. New Street Research initiated coverage on Viasat in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Barclays set a $49.00 target price on Viasat in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Viasat and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67.

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.