Empyrean Capital Partners LP Decreases Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Empyrean Capital Partners LP decreased its holdings in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 66.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 381,000 shares during the quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $20,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clearline Capital LP lifted its stake in EchoStar by 117.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 883,488 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $96,035,000 after purchasing an additional 477,738 shares during the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new stake in EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,245,000. Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,948,000. Avala Global LP purchased a new stake in EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,502,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in EchoStar by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 82,414 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,958,000 after purchasing an additional 14,688 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SATS opened at $111.70 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. EchoStar Corporation has a twelve month low of $24.15 and a twelve month high of $147.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.79. The stock has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.23 and a beta of 0.94.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.71) EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SATS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.71.

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.