Insider Selling: EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) CEO Sells $7,634,457.60 in Stock

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $7,634,457.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at $88,520,463.36. This trade represents a 7.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Hamid Akhavan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, December 11th, Hamid Akhavan sold 285,832 shares of EchoStar stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total value of $30,106,684.56.

EchoStar Price Performance

EchoStar stock traded down $1.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $108.50. 5,988,992 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,822,025. EchoStar Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $132.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company’s fifty day moving average is $115.55 and its 200-day moving average is $90.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SATS. Morgan Stanley upgraded EchoStar from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research raised EchoStar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $158.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SATS. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,481,700,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of EchoStar by 15.5% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,960,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $248,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,672 shares in the last quarter. Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of EchoStar in the fourth quarter worth $568,218,000. Icahn Carl C purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter worth about $332,513,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in EchoStar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,524,576 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $382,595,000 after purchasing an additional 48,671 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.