EchoStar Corporation $SATS Holdings Cut by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 28.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,298 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 115,481 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.10% of EchoStar worth $22,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SATS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in EchoStar by 4.6% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 3,199 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in EchoStar by 8.1% in the first 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 valued at $8,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24,749 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in EchoStar in the first quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in EchoStar in the 2nd quarter worth about $217,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock traded down $1.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.96. The company had a trading volume of 654,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,481,461. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.19. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $132.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a PE ratio of -2.11 and a beta of 1.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SATS. Citigroup lifted their price target on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

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