EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV increased its holdings in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) by 65.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,684 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of EchoStar by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 17,599 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 136.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,689 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in EchoStar during the third quarter worth approximately $272,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in EchoStar during the third quarter worth approximately $1,230,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,776,238 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $118,546,000 after purchasing an additional 62,674 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SATS opened at $29.37 on Friday. EchoStar Co. has a 12-month low of $11.83 and a 12-month high of $30.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 0.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen purchased 1,551,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.04 per share, with a total value of $43,499,994.20. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. This represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

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.