State of Wyoming Grows Stock Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

State of Wyoming raised its position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 60.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,102 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,093 shares during the quarter. EchoStar accounts for about 0.4% of State of Wyoming’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. State of Wyoming’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $3,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. BOKF NA increased its stake in EchoStar by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock opened at $103.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $24.15 and a one year high of $147.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.71) earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, New Street Research set a $165.00 price objective on EchoStar in a report on Monday, June 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.71.

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.