EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $133.8333.

Several analysts recently weighed in on SATS shares. Williams Trading set a $158.00 price objective on EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th.

EchoStar Trading Up 6.6%

NASDAQ SATS opened at $115.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.56. EchoStar has a 12 month low of $14.90 and a 12 month high of $132.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EchoStar news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total value of $30,106,684.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 376,805 shares in the company, valued at $39,688,870.65. The trade was a 43.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 55.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SATS. Amanah Holdings Trust bought a new position in EchoStar during the 4th quarter worth $12,500,000. Attestor Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter valued at $48,806,000. Beartown Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of EchoStar during the fourth quarter worth about $16,305,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of EchoStar by 89.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 18,563 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 8,766 shares during the period. Finally, Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 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.