Gabelli Funds LLC Has $33.90 Million Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 289,546 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 14,659 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $33,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,593,000. Dockside LLC bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth about $1,554,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $21,740,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 356,447 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,746,000 after acquiring an additional 114,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $28,994,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EchoStar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.71.

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 P/E ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $24.15 and a one year high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.71) earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

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.