EchoStar Corporation $SATS Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 13,503.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 113,995 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 113,157 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $12,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $356,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 9,681 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in EchoStar by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,832 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in EchoStar by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 8,188 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction 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. Corporate insiders own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of SATS opened at $137.23 on Monday. EchoStar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $14.90 and a fifty-two week high of $139.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $120.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.25. The company has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EchoStar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.00.

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.