EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.01, but opened at $22.51. EchoStar shares last traded at $23.17, with a volume of 49,650 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SATS shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

EchoStar Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen bought 1,551,355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at $43,499,994.20. This represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EchoStar

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SATS. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of EchoStar by 9.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,790 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of EchoStar by 3.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 69,602 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of EchoStar by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 390,077 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.