EchoStar Corporation $SATS Shares Purchased by Gabelli Funds LLC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its EchoStar stake by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,100 additional shares and bringing its total to 304,205 shares valued at about $33.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leaning cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $138, while recent updates included a new “Buy” rating from New Street Research and a downgrade to “Hold” from Wall Street Zen.
• EchoStar insiders sold shares recently, including COO John Swieringa and CEO Hamid Akhavan, even as the stock traded near its 12-month high and the company reported quarterly earnings that missed EPS estimates but slightly beat revenue expectations.

Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,205 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,100 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.11% of EchoStar worth $33,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SATS. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter worth about $28,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in EchoStar during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its holdings in EchoStar by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 400 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on SATS shares. New Street Research started coverage on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price objective on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $5,688,995.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares in the company, valued at $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 owned 823,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 55.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

EchoStar Stock Performance

EchoStar stock opened at $137.23 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. EchoStar Corporation has a 12 month low of $14.90 and a 12 month high of $139.54. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $120.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.25. The firm has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 0.95.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.71) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SATS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.