Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 48,671 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,524,576 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,671 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $382,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,593,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in EchoStar during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,199,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,994,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,459,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in EchoStar by 3,009.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 196,292 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after acquiring an additional 189,980 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock opened at $129.19 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.63 and a 200 day moving average of $111.21. EchoStar Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $147.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.58 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 (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.71) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that EchoStar Corporation will post -3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SATS. New Street Research began coverage on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was 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 $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value 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 $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

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.