EchoStar Corporation $SATS Shares Acquired by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 7.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 412,967 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $48,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. BOKF NA boosted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter worth about $51,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $6,362,906.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EchoStar Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ SATS opened at $103.80 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $114.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.02. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $24.15 and a one year high of $147.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SATS. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EchoStar presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

About EchoStar

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) is a global provider of satellite communication solutions, offering a suite of broadband and video delivery services to consumer, enterprise and government customers. The company operates two principal business segments: Broadband and Video. Through its Broadband segment, EchoStar delivers high-speed satellite internet access, managed network services and ground infrastructure for residential, commercial and rural markets. Its Video segment provides satellite fleet operations, teleport facilities and capacity-leasing services to video distributors and content providers.

In the Broadband segment, EchoStar’s Hughes Network Systems division designs and manufactures satellite broadband equipment, including user terminals and gateways, and develops advanced network management technologies.