140 Summer Partners LP Makes New $99.68 Million Investment in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 916,997 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $99,678,000. EchoStar accounts for approximately 7.4% of 140 Summer Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $3,593,000. Dockside LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $1,554,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at $55,199,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $21,740,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $28,994,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EchoStar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SATS opened at $120.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.64 and its 200 day moving average is $115.50. EchoStar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $23.97 and a fifty-two week high of $147.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.06 billion, a PE ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.