5,122 Shares in EchoStar Corporation $SATS Purchased by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,122 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at $3,593,000. Dockside LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth about $1,554,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC bought a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,740,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 356,447 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,746,000 after acquiring an additional 114,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,994,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

EchoStar Price Performance

NASDAQ:SATS opened at $103.80 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $114.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.96. The firm 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 12-month low of $24.15 and a 12-month high of $147.25.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.71) earnings per share.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.