Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 95,172 Shares of EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) by 3.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,914,676 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 95,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in EchoStar were worth $72,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new position in EchoStar during the second quarter valued at about $36,908,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of EchoStar by 51.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,243,761 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,961,000 after acquiring an additional 762,462 shares during the period. Stonehill Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,235,000. Monarch Alternative Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Monarch Alternative Capital LP now owns 1,854,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,020,000 after purchasing an additional 354,000 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in EchoStar in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,830,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SATS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James downgraded EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

EchoStar Stock Performance

EchoStar stock opened at $22.75 on Friday. EchoStar Co. has a 1-year low of $11.83 and a 1-year high of $30.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of -2.48 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.70.

Insider Activity

In other EchoStar news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen purchased 1,551,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at $43,499,994.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Company Profile

EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Pay-TV, Retail Wireless, 5G Network Deployment, Broadband and Satellite Services. The Pay-TV segment offers a direct broadcast and fixed satellite services; designs, develops, and distributes receiver system; and provides digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and, other services to third-party pay-TV providers; and multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top internet-based domestic, international, Latino, and Freestream video programming services under the DISH and SLING brand names.