EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $15.00 to $28.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the communications equipment provider's stock. UBS Group's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.58% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EchoStar to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James cut EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.75.

EchoStar Price Performance

SATS stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $23.03. 1,085,973 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,558,310. 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 has a 12-month low of $11.83 and a 12-month high of $30.08. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.68 and its 200 day moving average is $22.28. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SATS. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 68.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,141 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 17,053 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in EchoStar by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,316 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,597 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $186,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,830,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of EchoStar by 51.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,243,761 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $39,961,000 after buying an additional 762,462 shares during the period. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.