Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 4,753 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,181 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,753 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of EchoStar worth $23,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds 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. 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. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in EchoStar by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,875 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total transaction of $30,106,684.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 376,805 shares in the company, valued at $39,688,870.65. The trade was a 43.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total value of $1,481,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 283,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,091,496.06. This represents a 7.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.83.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SATS opened at $111.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.21 and a 200-day moving average of $77.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61. EchoStar Corporation has a twelve month low of $14.90 and a twelve month high of $132.25. The firm has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 1.01.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($44.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($43.14). EchoStar had a positive return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 85.36%.The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.52) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that EchoStar Corporation will post -1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.