Forsta AP Fonden Acquires New Shares in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Forsta AP Fonden acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,158 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,278,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,481,700,000. Icahn Carl C acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth $332,513,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in EchoStar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,524,576 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $382,595,000 after acquiring an additional 48,671 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in EchoStar by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,744,438 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $133,205,000 after acquiring an additional 48,322 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $182,111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research assumed coverage on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.14.

EchoStar Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $123.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.00 and its 200-day moving average is $111.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.81 billion, a PE ratio of -2.47 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. EchoStar Corporation has a 12-month low of $14.90 and a 12-month high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.71) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that EchoStar Corporation will post -3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,520,463.36. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 55.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

EchoStar Company Profile

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.