Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 34.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,810 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,181 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SATS. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $852,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in EchoStar by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,321 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473 shares during the period. CLG LLC raised its holdings in EchoStar by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. CLG LLC now owns 121,731 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,232,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $1,935,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $5,688,995.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. This represents a 16.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

NASDAQ SATS opened at $128.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.56 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.42. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $132.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $113.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SATS. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Williams Trading set a $158.00 target price on EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.17.

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.