EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $23.57, but opened at $22.00. EchoStar shares last traded at $23.07, with a volume of 612,548 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SATS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, EchoStar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

EchoStar Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.57 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,499,994.20. Following the purchase, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 55.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in shares of EchoStar in the first quarter valued at about $795,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter worth approximately $349,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the first quarter worth approximately $237,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 238.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,707,909 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $195,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,661,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the first quarter valued at approximately $398,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.