Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,675,354 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $182,111,000. Norges Bank owned 0.58% of EchoStar at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SATS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,482 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in EchoStar by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 331,476 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24,749 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in EchoStar during the 1st quarter worth about $128,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in EchoStar by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SATS. UBS Group upped their price target on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Four research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.14.

EchoStar Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:SATS opened at $120.92 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.34. The stock has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar Corporation has a 1 year low of $14.90 and a 1 year high of $147.25. 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 data on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that EchoStar Corporation will post -3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.