Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 16,949 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 164,005 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,949 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.06% of EchoStar worth $4,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in EchoStar by 39.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in EchoStar by 70,980.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,554 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 3,549 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in EchoStar during the first quarter worth $102,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in EchoStar during the second quarter worth $130,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in EchoStar during the first quarter worth $128,000. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Trading Down 2.5%

SATS opened at $73.48 on Wednesday. EchoStar Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.90 and a 1-year high of $85.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SATS. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of EchoStar from $28.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of EchoStar from $59.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $105.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 233,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.35, for a total transaction of $17,625,721.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 376,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,392,256.75. The trade was a 38.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kathleen Q. Abernathy sold 16,754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.35, for a total transaction of $1,379,691.90. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 460,740 shares of company stock valued at $35,967,480. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

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.