East Coast Asset Management LLC. Buys New Shares in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

East Coast Asset Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 137,244 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,918,000. EchoStar makes up approximately 4.4% of East Coast Asset Management LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,481,700,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $568,218,000. Icahn Carl C purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at $332,513,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in EchoStar by 1.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in EchoStar by 68.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SATS shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale 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. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SATS opened at $111.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.23 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar Corporation has a 12 month low of $24.15 and a 12 month high of $147.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $125.33 and its 200 day moving average is $115.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 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.