EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Shares of EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $21.99, but opened at $23.27. EchoStar shares last traded at $23.01, with a volume of 297,812 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Chairman Charles W. Ergen bought 1,551,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.04 per share, with a total value of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SATS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.25.

EchoStar Trading Up 3.6 %

The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,230,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in EchoStar by 1.3% during the third 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 acquired a new position in EchoStar during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,235,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of EchoStar by 44.8% in the third 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. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 69.5% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 28,254 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 11,586 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by 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.