Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stake in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 344,188 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,772 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.13% of EchoStar worth $7,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in EchoStar by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at approximately $165,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in EchoStar by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,684 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth $272,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at $285,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $29.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of -3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.49. EchoStar Co. has a one year low of $11.83 and a one year high of $30.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SATS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of EchoStar from $15.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EchoStar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

About EchoStar

EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Pay-TV, Retail Wireless, 5G Network Deployment, Broadband and Satellite Services. The Pay-TV segment offers a direct broadcast and fixed satellite services; designs, develops, and distributes receiver system; and provides digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and, other services to third-party pay-TV providers; and multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top internet-based domestic, international, Latino, and Freestream video programming services under the DISH and SLING brand names.