EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 8,811,510 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the previous session’s volume of 6,434,893 shares.The stock last traded at $116.5910 and had previously closed at $128.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SATS. TD Cowen raised their target price on EchoStar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.14.

EchoStar Stock Down 12.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The company has a market capitalization of $32.48 billion, a PE ratio of -2.27 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.14 and a 200 day moving average of $114.52.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.71) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that EchoStar Corporation will post -5.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at EchoStar

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SATS. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in EchoStar by 134.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About EchoStar

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) is a global provider of satellite communication solutions, offering a suite of broadband and video delivery services to consumer, enterprise and government customers. The company operates two principal business segments: Broadband and Video. Through its Broadband segment, EchoStar delivers high-speed satellite internet access, managed network services and ground infrastructure for residential, commercial and rural markets. Its Video segment provides satellite fleet operations, teleport facilities and capacity-leasing services to video distributors and content providers.

In the Broadband segment, EchoStar’s Hughes Network Systems division designs and manufactures satellite broadband equipment, including user terminals and gateways, and develops advanced network management technologies.