Dodge & Cox Lowers Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Dodge & Cox trimmed its stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,791,127 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,607,143 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox owned 4.10% of EchoStar worth $900,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SATS. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter valued at $3,703,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,736,000. Twin Tree Management LP grew its position in EchoStar by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 55,300 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,223,000 after purchasing an additional 26,568 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,908,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on SATS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.17.

EchoStar Trading Up 0.6%

EchoStar stock opened at $108.34 on Friday. EchoStar Corporation has a 52-week low of $14.90 and a 52-week high of $132.25. The company has a market cap of $31.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.15 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.74.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other EchoStar news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $5,688,995.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. This trade represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.