Nwam LLC Invests $2.36 Million in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,172 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,362,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sachem Head Capital Management LP bought a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $568,218,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at about $182,111,000. 140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth about $99,678,000. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth about $97,948,000. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd now owns 2,181,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $237,154,000 after buying an additional 887,611 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

EchoStar Stock Down 0.1%

SATS opened at $103.80 on Thursday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $117.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.17. EchoStar Corporation has a twelve month low of $24.15 and a twelve month high of $147.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its 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). EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.71) EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EchoStar currently 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.