Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 10,615 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 25.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 51,689 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,615 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $6,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SATS. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 0.4% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,845 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,674,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in EchoStar by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in EchoStar by 0.5% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 19,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in EchoStar by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in EchoStar by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,800 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on SATS shares. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research set a $165.00 price objective on EchoStar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, EchoStar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.71.

EchoStar Stock Down 0.1%

EchoStar stock opened at $103.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.22. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $24.15 and a 1-year high of $147.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.71) EPS.

EchoStar Company 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.