Legal & General Group Plc Has $38.75 Million Stake in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 47.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 356,447 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,018 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $38,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SATS. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its stake in EchoStar by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SATS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.14.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SATS opened at $129.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.44 billion, a PE ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.63 and a 200-day moving average of $110.95. EchoStar Corporation has a 12 month low of $14.90 and a 12 month high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.67 billion for 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 period last year, the firm posted ($0.71) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that EchoStar Corporation will post -3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In related news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar 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.