EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Chairman Buys $43,499,994.20 in Stock

EchoStar Co. (NASDAQ:SATS) Chairman Charles W. Ergen acquired 1,551,355 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.04 per share, with a total value of $43,499,994.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 1,551,355 shares in the company, valued at $43,499,994.20. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

EchoStar Price Performance

SATS stock traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.01. The company had a trading volume of 297,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,708. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.54. EchoStar Co. has a fifty-two week low of $9.53 and a fifty-two week high of $30.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on EchoStar from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on EchoStar from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded EchoStar to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on EchoStar from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EchoStar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EchoStar

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SATS. Darsana Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in EchoStar during the second quarter worth approximately $36,908,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in EchoStar by 263.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 105,421 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 76,407 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in EchoStar during the second quarter worth approximately $1,830,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of EchoStar in the first quarter valued at $398,000. Finally, 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 buying an additional 9,661,167 shares in the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Company Profile

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.