Polianta Ltd Decreases Stake in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Polianta Ltd cut its stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. Polianta Ltd’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $1,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in EchoStar in the third quarter valued at about $55,199,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 575.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,321 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 30,090 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $780,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,508,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $5,688,995.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. This trade represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SATS. Williams Trading set a $158.00 price objective on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, EchoStar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.17.

EchoStar Stock Performance

EchoStar stock opened at $112.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $113.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.54. The company has a market capitalization of $32.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.23 and a beta of 1.01. EchoStar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $14.90 and a fifty-two week high of $132.25.

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.