Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.42 Million Stock Holdings in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 585,990 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,999 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $13,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SATS. Creative Planning increased its position in EchoStar by 42.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,395 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,491 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in EchoStar during the third quarter worth $285,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in EchoStar by 11.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 46,767 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 4,626 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in EchoStar by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 324,416 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,052,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in EchoStar by 9.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,790 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Stock Up 2.4 %

SATS opened at $29.01 on Thursday. EchoStar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.83 and a fifty-two week high of $30.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.29. The company has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.17 and a beta of 0.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SATS shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of EchoStar from $15.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

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.