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

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday following insider buying activity. 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 traded.

Specifically, Chairman Charles W. Ergen purchased 1,551,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

EchoStar Price Performance

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,230,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,776,238 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $118,546,000 after buying an additional 62,674 shares during the period. Stonehill Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter worth $9,235,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 44.8% during the third quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $74,460,000 after acquiring an additional 927,695 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in EchoStar by 69.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 28,254 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 11,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company's stock.

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.