Evergreen Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Key Points

• Evergreen Capital Management LLC cut its EchoStar stake by 44.6% in Q4, selling 232,693 shares and leaving 289,329 shares worth $31.45 million, making the stock its 23rd-largest holding.
• Senior insiders recently sold large blocks—CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares and COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares—and insiders now own 55.7% of the company.
• Analyst opinions are mixed (3 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell) resulting in a consensus Hold rating and a consensus price target of $134.17.

Evergreen Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) by 44.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 289,329 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 232,693 shares during the quarter. EchoStar makes up 0.7% of Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Evergreen Capital Management LLC owned 0.10% of EchoStar worth $31,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SATS. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 6.0% during 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 4.6% during 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $8,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24,749 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in EchoStar by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,528 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $158.00 target price on EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research downgraded EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three 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, EchoStar presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $134.17.

EchoStar Trading Up 1.4%

SATS stock opened at $135.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.17. EchoStar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $14.90 and a fifty-two week high of $137.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $39.03 billion, a PE ratio of -2.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other 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 value of $7,634,457.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 253,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,796,505.30. This trade represents a 16.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 55.70% of the stock is owned by 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.

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