Luxor Capital Group LP Invests $2.93 Million in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Luxor Capital Group LP bought a new position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 25,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,927,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SATS. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the first quarter valued at $897,000. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at about $427,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. CLG LLC raised its position in shares of EchoStar by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. CLG LLC now owns 123,190 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $14,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 1st quarter worth about $650,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Trading Down 0.1%

SATS opened at $103.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar Corporation has a 52 week low of $24.15 and a 52 week high of $147.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $113.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.87. 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 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). The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.71) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EchoStar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.71.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

EchoStar 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.