CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,900 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in EchoStar in the third quarter worth $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in EchoStar by 79.1% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 838 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in EchoStar by 593.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 922 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SATS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EchoStar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $5,688,995.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares in the company, valued at $28,796,505.30. This trade represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of SATS opened at $107.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. EchoStar Corporation has a twelve month low of $14.90 and a twelve month high of $132.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.43 and a 200-day moving average of $93.12.

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.