EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $21.52, but opened at $21.03. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. EchoStar shares last traded at $21.77, with a volume of 201,604 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SATS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com upgraded EchoStar to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Raymond James cut EchoStar from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.25.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen bought 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 acquisition, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,499,994.20. The trade was 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 insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SATS. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 3.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,589 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in EchoStar by 54.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in EchoStar by 1.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 60,700 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in EchoStar by 694.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in EchoStar by 9.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,790 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EchoStar Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.54. The company has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.40 and a beta of 0.70.

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.