EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Stock Price Up 3.9% – Time to Buy?

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)’s stock price shot up 3.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $142.73 and last traded at $141.80. 5,448,059 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 6,110,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $136.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group upped 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded EchoStar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. New Street Research assumed coverage on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, April 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EchoStar has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.14.

EchoStar Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $40.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.83 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.76 and a 200 day moving average of $108.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. EchoStar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that EchoStar Corporation will post -2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $7,634,457.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $5,688,995.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares in the company, valued at $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SATS. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter worth approximately $2,481,700,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at $568,218,000. Icahn Carl C purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $332,513,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the 4th quarter valued at $182,111,000. Finally, Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $98,819,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.