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

Shares of EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.04 per share, with a total value of $43,499,994.20. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,499,994.20. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com upgraded EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Raymond James lowered EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.25.

EchoStar Trading Up 3.6 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 0.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SATS. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in EchoStar by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,589 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in EchoStar by 54.7% during the 3rd 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 increased its holdings in EchoStar by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 increased its holdings in EchoStar by 694.8% during the 2nd 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 increased its holdings in EchoStar by 9.8% during the 3rd 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 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.