EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SATS. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on EchoStar in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lowered EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded EchoStar to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $15.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EchoStar news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at $43,499,994.20. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 55.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in EchoStar by 54.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the second quarter worth $89,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of EchoStar by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,684 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,635 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth $165,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the second quarter worth $183,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EchoStar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SATS traded up $0.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.23. 3,083,818 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,944,712. EchoStar has a 52-week low of $11.83 and a 52-week high of $30.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.82 and a 200-day moving average of $22.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 0.70.

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.