Nordea Investment Management AB Takes $1.23 Million Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 11,235 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SATS. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new stake in EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 79.1% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 838 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in EchoStar by 593.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 922 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SATS shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Williams Trading set a $158.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.17.

EchoStar Stock Performance

NASDAQ SATS opened at $115.21 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $113.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. EchoStar Corporation has a twelve month low of $14.90 and a twelve month high of $132.25. The company has a market capitalization of $33.28 billion, a PE ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 1.01.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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. This represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate 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.