Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Trims Stock Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 42.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,499 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $1,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SATS traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,741,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,592,233. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30. EchoStar Corporation has a 1-year low of $24.15 and a 1-year high of $147.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $118.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.18. The firm has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SATS shares. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on EchoStar in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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.

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.