Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 364,072 Shares of Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,887,537 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 364,072 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.47% of Viasat worth $16,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Viasat by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in shares of Viasat by 98.5% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 675,378 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,747,000 after purchasing an additional 335,082 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viasat during the 4th quarter worth $1,787,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viasat in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Viasat by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,516,000 after buying an additional 12,802 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Viasat Price Performance

NASDAQ VSAT traded up $1.41 on Monday, hitting $11.19. The stock had a trading volume of 5,129,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,565,435. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.46 and a 200-day moving average of $10.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.80. Viasat, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.69 and a 52-week high of $26.70.

Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($1.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.70). Viasat had a negative net margin of 9.49% and a negative return on equity of 8.37%. Equities analysts expect that Viasat, Inc. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cpp Investment Board Private H sold 3,750,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $33,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,795,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,158,006. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viasat from $26.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Viasat in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Viasat from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.57.

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.