Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 5,066 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,061 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $13,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 6.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in EchoStar by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,482 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in EchoStar by 8.1% in the 1st 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 valued at $8,479,000 after buying an additional 24,749 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of EchoStar by 18.6% in 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. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $103.80 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $116.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.07. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 9th. 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 company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SATS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price objective on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.71.

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.