SATS short interest jumped 21.6% over the past month, reaching 36.9M shares — 23.6% of float. The stock fell 11.8% this week to $117.50 as short sellers increased positions. Cost to borrow rose modestly to 0.72%, while utilisation hit 55%, down from the April 3 peak of 65%.
SATS closed at $117.50 on April 24, down 3.3% on the day. The stock fell 11.8% over the past week. The monthly picture is stronger — shares rose 6% over 30 days. The recent slide erased gains built through March.
Short interest stands at 36.9M shares as of April 23, representing 23.6% of the free float. Shares short increased 2.5% over the past week and 21.6% over the past month. That's the highest level in the trailing 30-day history. Short interest dipped to 30.4M shares on March 20 before climbing steadily through early April. The position peaked at 38.3M shares on April 2, then pulled back slightly before this week's rise.
Cost to borrow averaged 0.72% on April 23, up 2.9% week-over-week and 10.5% over the past month. Borrowing costs spiked to 0.81% on April 9 before retreating. The 30-day low was 0.55% on March 19. Current CTB sits near mid-range for the month.
Utilisation registered 55.19% on April 23. That's down from 63% the prior day and well below the 52-week high of 65.26% hit on April 3. Utilisation has fluctuated between 41% and 65% over the past month. The metric tracks how much of the available borrow has been lent out. Current utilisation sits in the middle of the recent range.
Days to cover reached 5.97 as of the April 15 FINRA report.
The put/call ratio stood at 0.45 on April 24, near the 20-day mean of 0.45. The z-score of -0.02 indicates the current PCR is almost exactly at the 20-day average. The 52-week range runs from 0.26 to 0.91. PCR has traded in a tight band between 0.42 and 0.48 over the past month. The metric has shown little movement, signalling balanced options sentiment.
The consensus rating is Hold, with two Hold ratings on file. The mean price target is $129.60. Coverage is thin — analyst count data is unavailable.
UBS analyst John Hodulik raised his target to $127 from $125 on March 3, maintaining a Neutral rating. Citigroup's Michael Rollins lifted his target to $121 from $111 on February 4, also holding at Neutral. TD Cowen's Gregory Williams made the most bullish move in January, raising his target to $158 from $100 while keeping a Buy rating. Morgan Stanley upgraded SATS to Overweight from Equal-Weight in December, hiking the target to $110 from $82.
The recent analyst actions cluster around target raises while ratings hold steady. Most firms maintain neutral stances despite the price target increases.
The P/E ratio sat at -57.30 on April 24, improving by 12.67 points over 30 days. The P/B ratio was 2.79, down 0.07 over the month. EV/EBITDA registered 30.77, falling 0.50 over 30 days. The negative P/E reflects ongoing losses.
SATS ranks in the 91st percentile for EPS surprise and the 9th percentile for EPS momentum over 90 days. The stock sits in the 73rd percentile for dividend score despite no dividend history. Short score rank is 4th percentile. Sector score is 20th percentile. The factor positioning shows strength in earnings surprises but weakness in broader momentum and sector positioning.
FMR LLC added 15.3M shares, bringing its stake to 24.5M shares (8.48% of shares outstanding) as of March 31. That's a substantial increase. State Street Global Advisors added 8.9M shares to reach 5.5M shares (1.91%). Vanguard increased its position by 3.4M shares to 13.4M shares (4.64%). BlackRock added 1.7M shares, now holding 19.7M shares (6.82%).
New positions appeared from active managers. The Linonia Partnership LP initiated a 6.1M share stake (2.12% of shares). Sachem Head Capital Management LP also entered with 5.2M shares (1.81%). Darsana Capital Partners LP added 850K shares to its 7M share position (2.42%).
Charles Ergen holds 74M shares (25.6%), up 24.3M shares since his last report on December 26. The Ergen Family Trust reduced its stake by 19M shares to 71.7M shares (24.8%). These insider-linked positions remain the largest holders.
Insiders sold 412,620 shares net over the past 90 days, valued at $44.2M. All recent transactions were sales, with no open-market purchases.
President/CEO Hamid Akhavan-Malayeri sold 71,005 shares on March 6 at $107.52, receiving $7.6M. COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares across two March 4 transactions at prices between $113.39 and $114.04, totalling $5.7M. Chief Legal Officer Dean Manson sold 19,031 shares on March 5 at $114.51–$114.60, receiving $2.2M.
The selling followed a 263,158 share award to the CEO on December 31. The sales represent routine equity compensation liquidation rather than open-market purchases.
SATS reports earnings on May 8 at 1:30 PM UTC. The print will be the next catalyst for the stock and could move short interest or options positioning.
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