EchoStar Corporation $SATS Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its EchoStar stake by 35.8% in Q4, selling 27,707 shares and leaving it with 49,641 shares valued at about $5.40 million.
• Insider selling: COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares (~$5.69M) and CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares (~$7.63M), reducing their holdings by 16.5% and 7.94%, respectively.
• Major institutional buying included new large stakes from DLD Asset Management (~$2.48B) and Carl Icahn (~$332.5M), with institutional investors and hedge funds owning roughly 33.62% of the stock.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) by 35.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,641 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 27,707 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in EchoStar were worth $5,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SATS. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,481,700,000. Icahn Carl C acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $332,513,000. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,819,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,199,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in EchoStar during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,736,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EchoStar Price Performance

SATS stock opened at $123.18 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. EchoStar Corporation has a 52-week low of $14.90 and a 52-week high of $137.44. The stock's 50 day moving average is $117.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.76. The company has a market capitalization of $35.58 billion, a PE ratio of -2.45 and a beta of 0.96.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

In other EchoStar news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $5,688,995.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares in the company, valued at $28,796,505.30. The trade was a 16.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of EchoStar stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 823,293 shares in the company, valued at $88,520,463.36. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Williams Trading set a $158.00 price target on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on EchoStar from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $134.17.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SATS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.