Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA Takes Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,658 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SATS. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth $3,593,000. Dockside LLC bought a new stake in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $1,554,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at about $21,740,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 356,447 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,746,000 after purchasing an additional 114,018 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth about $28,994,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SATS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $155.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.71.

EchoStar Stock Down 0.1%

SATS stock opened at $103.80 on Tuesday. 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $112.70 and its 200-day moving average is $116.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94.

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 return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS.

EchoStar Company 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.