Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Grows Position in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its EchoStar stake by 28.1% in Q3 to 41,074 shares, worth about $3.14 million after buying an additional 9,000 shares.
• Other institutions also moved in: SG Americas boosted its holding by 575.2% to 35,321 shares and Hennessy Advisors established a new ~$42.46 million stake, leaving institutional investors with roughly 33.62% ownership.
• CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares on Dec. 11 for ~$30.1 million (avg. $105.33), reducing his position by 43.14%; company insiders now own about 55.90% of EchoStar.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,074 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in EchoStar were worth $3,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 575.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,321 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,697,000 after purchasing an additional 30,090 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at $780,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,508,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth $42,464,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of EchoStar by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 208,982 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,789,000 after buying an additional 24,132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SATS. Williams Trading set a $158.00 price objective on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of EchoStar from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of EchoStar from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $134.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 376,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,688,870.65. This trade represents a 43.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EchoStar Stock Down 2.5%

EchoStar stock opened at $114.03 on Thursday. EchoStar Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.90 and a 1-year high of $132.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $115.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.27 and a beta of 1.01.

About EchoStar

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.