EchoStar Corporation $SATS Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 14.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 305,240 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,502 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $35,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

NASDAQ SATS opened at $103.80 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $117.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm 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 52-week low of $24.15 and a 52-week high of $147.25.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SATS has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. 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, the company 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 the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About EchoStar

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.