VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys 16,670 Shares of EchoStar Corporation $SATS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 157.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,270 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,670 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $2,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its stake in EchoStar by 15.5% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,960,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $248,192,000 after buying an additional 1,201,672 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,449,193 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $95,553,000 after acquiring an additional 355,009 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,268,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,139,000 after acquiring an additional 313,314 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in EchoStar by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 913,292 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,298,000 after acquiring an additional 211,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in EchoStar by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 442,494 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,257,000 after purchasing an additional 50,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total transaction of $30,106,684.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 376,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,688,870.65. The trade was a 43.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total transaction of $1,481,480.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 283,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,091,496.06. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of SATS opened at $112.18 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a PE ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 1.02. EchoStar Corporation has a 12-month low of $14.90 and a 12-month high of $112.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($44.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($43.14). EchoStar had a positive return on equity of 0.39% and a negative net margin of 85.36%.The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.52) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that EchoStar Corporation will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on SATS. Morgan Stanley upgraded EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $28.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EchoStar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.80.

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.