Amanah Holdings Trust Buys New Shares in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Amanah Holdings Trust bought a new position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 115,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,500,000. EchoStar accounts for 1.8% of Amanah Holdings Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of EchoStar by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

SATS opened at $109.17 on Friday. EchoStar Corporation has a 52-week low of $24.15 and a 52-week high of $147.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.05. The company has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.18 and a beta of 0.94. 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 issued its 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). The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the business posted ($0.71) EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.