EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Up 6.9% Following Insider Buying Activity

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 6.9% during trading on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $14.79 and last traded at $14.73. 343,416 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 2,917,519 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.78.Specifically, Director James Defranco purchased 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.14 per share, with a total value of $919,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 176,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,325,136.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director C Mike Schroeder sold 3,020 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.29, for a total value of $37,115.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James Defranco purchased 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.14 per share, for a total transaction of $919,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 176,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,325,136.14. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on EchoStar from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on EchoStar from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on EchoStar in a report on Monday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.80.

EchoStar Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.02 and a 200-day moving average of $14.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.09 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($7.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($7.50). EchoStar had a positive return on equity of 5.24% and a negative net margin of 36.33%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 732.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EchoStar Co. will post -1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SATS. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in EchoStar by 126.6% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,448 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of EchoStar by 95.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,827 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.19% 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.

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