Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Acquires New Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,897 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter worth $342,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 126.3% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 3,497 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 7.9% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 59,853 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,996,000 after buying an additional 4,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at $808,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SATS shares. Zacks Research lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price target on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price 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 MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owned by insiders.

EchoStar Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $103.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.16. EchoStar Corporation has a 1 year low of $24.15 and a 1 year high of $147.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share.

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.