California Public Employees Retirement System Invests $25.14 Million in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

California Public Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 214,715 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $25,137,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $568,218,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth $182,111,000. 140 Summer Partners LP bought a new position in EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth $99,678,000. Atreides Management LP purchased a new position in EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at $97,948,000. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in EchoStar by 68.6% during the fourth quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd now owns 2,181,728 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $237,154,000 after purchasing an additional 887,611 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EchoStar Price Performance

NASDAQ:SATS opened at $103.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of -2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.02. EchoStar Corporation has a 52 week low of $24.15 and a 52 week high of $147.25.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SATS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, June 15th. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.71.

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.