EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) Stock Price Up 8.7% – Here’s What Happened

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)’s share price was up 8.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $124.98 and last traded at $125.2340. Approximately 6,068,253 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 6,367,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.24.

More EchoStar News

Here are the key news stories impacting EchoStar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports say EchoStar may be nearing roughly $44.65 billion in deals with AT&T and SpaceX to monetize spectrum, cut debt, and support future wireless growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: EchoStar is being viewed as a major spectrum/catalyst story, with market commentary suggesting the asset value may be real and potentially significant for shareholders. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CNBC listed EchoStar among the day’s biggest movers, reflecting heightened trading interest and momentum rather than a clear new fundamental update. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares, but the filing says it was part of a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan, so the sale may be routine despite adding some investor caution. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest remains elevated, signaling skepticism from traders and the possibility of continued volatility in SATS. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SATS shares. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price objective on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of EchoStar from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.14.

EchoStar Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.10. The stock has a market cap of $36.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 0.94.

EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.03). EchoStar had a negative net margin of 97.56% and a negative return on equity of 4.80%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.71) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that EchoStar Corporation will post -3.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $6,362,906.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 55.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of EchoStar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in EchoStar by 6.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,805 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in EchoStar by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 72,482 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in EchoStar by 8.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 331,476 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,479,000 after buying an additional 24,749 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in EchoStar during the first quarter worth $128,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in EchoStar by 18.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.