Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,041,535 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 568,380 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.12% of EchoStar worth $75,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of EchoStar by 125.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in EchoStar by 694.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 122.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,199 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,315 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the second quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth about $165,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In related news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired 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 $43,499,994.20. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase 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.

EchoStar Trading Up 0.6 %

EchoStar stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,402,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,818,512. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. EchoStar Co. has a 12-month low of $10.18 and a 12-month high of $30.08. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Raymond James cut EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded EchoStar to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Morgan Stanley raised 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, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, EchoStar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.25.

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.