Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 301.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 79,182 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,482 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $8,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sachem Head Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth $568,218,000. Icahn Carl C acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the third quarter valued at $332,513,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 48,671 shares during the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in EchoStar by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd now owns 2,181,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $237,154,000 after buying an additional 887,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,767,338 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $192,110,000 after acquiring an additional 22,900 shares in the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

EchoStar Stock Down 0.1%

SATS opened at $103.80 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.28.

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 firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.71) earnings per share.

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.