Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 25,771 Shares of EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 568,991 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 25,771 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of EchoStar worth $14,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 238.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,707,909 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $195,338,000 after buying an additional 9,661,167 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of EchoStar during the second quarter valued at $36,908,000. Monarch Alternative Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 1st quarter valued at $21,375,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,243,761 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $39,961,000 after purchasing an additional 762,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollo Management Holdings L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 1st quarter worth about $10,507,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In related news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of EchoStar stock opened at $22.79 on Friday. EchoStar Co. has a 52 week low of $9.53 and a 52 week high of $30.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.62.

EchoStar Profile

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.