Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 2,811,442 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its holdings in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,545,334 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,811,442 shares during the period. Viasat makes up about 0.9% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned approximately 0.07% of Viasat worth $102,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Viasat by 63.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 644,155 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,181,000 after buying an additional 250,389 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Viasat by 1,145.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 816,478 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,369,000 after acquiring an additional 750,904 shares during the last quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viasat by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 191,304 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,284,000 after acquiring an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $509,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viasat by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,532,375 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $226,711,000 after purchasing an additional 348,166 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Viasat from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 31st. Barclays cut their price target on Viasat from $24.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Viasat from $28.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Viasat from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Viasat from $31.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.33.

Viasat Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSAT opened at $6.83 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.87 and a 200 day moving average of $14.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $876.90 million, a P/E ratio of -2.19 and a beta of 1.37. Viasat, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.76 and a 12 month high of $29.11.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by ($0.53). Viasat had a negative net margin of 8.73% and a negative return on equity of 7.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($6.16) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viasat, Inc. will post -2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viasat Company Profile

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.