EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $23.57, but opened at $22.00. EchoStar shares last traded at $23.07, with a volume of 612,548 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SATS. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.25.

EchoStar Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.92 and its 200 day moving average is $20.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In related news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen purchased 1,551,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,499,994.20. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 55.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth approximately $272,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,230,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in EchoStar by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,776,238 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $118,546,000 after purchasing an additional 62,674 shares during the period. Stonehill Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,235,000. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its stake in EchoStar by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $74,460,000 after purchasing an additional 927,695 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.