Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 11,179 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 39.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,679 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,179 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $4,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio increased its stake in EchoStar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 19,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 1st quarter worth approximately $411,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 6.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,035 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter valued at approximately $573,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the first quarter valued at $365,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $103.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $119.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. EchoStar Corporation has a 1-year low of $24.15 and a 1-year high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.71) EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of EchoStar 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SATS has been the topic of several analyst reports. New Street Research set a $165.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price 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. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.