EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Stock Price Down 10.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• EchoStar shares fell 10.4% on Thursday to about $115.24 (intraday low $117.85) on volume of 3.3M shares, roughly half the stock's average session volume.
• The company reported a massive quarterly EPS miss — ($44.37) vs. consensus (−$1.23) — with revenue of $3.61B below estimates and deeply negative margins.
• Analysts are mixed with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Hold" and a $132.17 average target, while insiders (including the CEO) sold large stakes and the company shows high leverage (debt/equity 3.11) and low liquidity (current ratio 0.61).

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 10.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $117.85 and last traded at $115.2430. 3,296,516 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 6,645,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on SATS shares. Morgan Stanley raised EchoStar from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Williams Trading set a $158.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $28.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.17.

EchoStar Stock Down 11.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $103.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.58. The company has a market capitalization of $32.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.53 and a beta of 1.02.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($44.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($43.14). EchoStar had a negative net margin of 85.36% and a positive return on equity of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.52) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that EchoStar Corporation will post -1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total transaction of $30,106,684.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 376,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,688,870.65. This trade represents a 43.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total transaction of $1,481,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 283,509 shares in the company, valued at $19,091,496.06. This trade represents a 7.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SATS. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 167.4% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 55,464 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $6,029,000 after acquiring an additional 34,719 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $311,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in EchoStar by 3,009.8% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 196,292 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $22,332,000 after acquiring an additional 189,980 shares during the period. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $288,000. Institutional investors own 33.62% of the company's stock.

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.

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