Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS)

Equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James downgraded EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

EchoStar Price Performance

EchoStar stock opened at $23.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.69. EchoStar has a 52 week low of $11.83 and a 52 week high of $30.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen purchased 1,551,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 55.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in EchoStar by 3.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,589 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of EchoStar by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 60,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,790 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 69,602 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

About EchoStar

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.