EchoStar Corporation $SATS Stock Position Trimmed by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 42.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,499 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton bought a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

EchoStar Price Performance

NASDAQ:SATS traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.80. 11,741,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,592,233. EchoStar Corporation has a one year low of $24.15 and a one year high of $147.25. The company has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $118.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued 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). EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.71) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen raised their price target on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.71.

EchoStar Profile

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.