EchoStar Corporation $SATS Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 673.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,919 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,119 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $1,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SATS. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of EchoStar by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased 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 worth $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 raised its stake in EchoStar by 8.1% during 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 worth $8,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24,749 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of EchoStar by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SATS opened at $103.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The stock has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. EchoStar Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $24.15 and a fifty-two week high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.71) EPS.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SATS. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price objective on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, New Street Research set a $165.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, June 15th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

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.