DISH Network Co. (NASDAQ:DISH) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

DISH Network Co. (NASDAQ:DISH – Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.93.

DISH has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America cut DISH Network from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $10.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on DISH Network from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on DISH Network in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Credit Suisse Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of DISH Network in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on DISH Network from $24.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at DISH Network

In related news, Director James Defranco acquired 500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.88 per share, with a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 504,642 shares in the company, valued at $5,490,504.96. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,100,000 shares of company stock worth $22,877,000. 53.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DISH Network

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in DISH Network by 94.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 53,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 26,151 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of DISH Network by 22.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in DISH Network by 23.1% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 67,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 12,745 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in shares of DISH Network by 1.4% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 235,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in DISH Network by 1.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,850,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,210,000 after acquiring an additional 53,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

DISH Network Price Performance

NASDAQ:DISH opened at $9.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.59. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.84. DISH Network has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $33.74.

DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $1.00. DISH Network had a return on equity of 13.66% and a net margin of 13.81%. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that DISH Network will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DISH Network Company Profile

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DISH Network Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of pay-tv services. It operates through the Pay-TV and Wireless segments. The Pay-TV segment operates under the DISH brand and Sling brand. The Wireless segment refers to the wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. The company was founded by Charles William Ergen, Cantey M.