Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 14,659 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 289,546 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 14,659 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.10% of EchoStar worth $33,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sachem Head Capital Management LP bought a new stake in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $568,218,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in EchoStar by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,524,576 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $382,595,000 after purchasing an additional 48,671 shares during the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in EchoStar by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd now owns 2,181,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $237,154,000 after purchasing an additional 887,611 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of EchoStar by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,767,338 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $192,110,000 after purchasing an additional 22,900 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $182,111,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock opened at $103.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.35 and a 200-day moving average of $116.87. The company has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. EchoStar Corporation has a 52 week low of $24.15 and a 52 week high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.71) EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

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.