Leonteq Securities AG Invests $784,000 in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,211 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth $28,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, BOKF NA grew its stake in shares of EchoStar by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $5,688,995.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,796,505.30. This represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,520,463.36. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:SATS opened at $124.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27. EchoStar Corporation has a 1 year low of $14.90 and a 1 year high of $147.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $123.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.10.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.71) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SATS shares. UBS Group increased their target price on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research started coverage on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.14.

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.