EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Stock Price Down 10.4% – Here’s Why

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)’s stock price dropped 10.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $117.85 and last traded at $115.2430. Approximately 3,296,516 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 6,645,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on EchoStar from $87.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Williams Trading set a $158.00 target price on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EchoStar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.17.

EchoStar Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.13 and its 200 day moving average is $74.44. The firm has a market cap of $32.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.02.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($44.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.52) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that EchoStar Corporation will post -1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EchoStar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 376,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,688,870.65. This represents a 43.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Swieringa sold 22,000 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.34, for a total value 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. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SATS. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter worth about $2,481,700,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in EchoStar by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,960,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $248,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,672 shares during the period. Icahn Carl C acquired a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $332,513,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in EchoStar by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,449,193 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $95,553,000 after purchasing an additional 355,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in EchoStar by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,744,438 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $133,205,000 after purchasing an additional 48,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

EchoStar Company Profile

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.