KBC Group NV Grows Stock Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 40.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,334 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $3,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 6.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in EchoStar by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,482 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 331,476 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,479,000 after acquiring an additional 24,749 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in EchoStar in the 1st quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 18.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of EchoStar 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EchoStar Stock Down 0.1%

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

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.71) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.