Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Holdings in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,789 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,853 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in EchoStar were worth $1,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of EchoStar by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,960,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $248,192,000 after buying an additional 1,201,672 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in EchoStar by 11.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,449,193 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $95,553,000 after acquiring an additional 355,009 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in EchoStar by 32.8% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in EchoStar by 30.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 913,292 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,298,000 after purchasing an additional 211,421 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,464,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of SATS stock opened at $113.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.59 billion, a PE ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $132.25.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SATS. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, EchoStar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.17.

Insider Activity

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