ABN Amro Investment Solutions Takes $767,000 Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,058 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton bought a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in EchoStar in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS opened at $124.20 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $123.04 and a 200-day moving average of $109.33. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $147.25. The company has a market cap of $35.88 billion, a PE ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.71) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.14.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 253,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. This trade represents a 16.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 55.90% 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.