Jain Global LLC Makes New Investment in EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Key Points

• Jain Global LLC established a new position in EchoStar by buying 108,397 shares in Q3, valued at about $8.28 million.
• Top insiders sold sizable stakes recently: COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares for roughly $5.69 million and CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares for about $7.63 million, leaving insiders with approximately 55.7% ownership.
• Analyst views are mixed—three Buys, three Holds and one Sell—with a MarketBeat consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $134.17, while several firms (Morgan Stanley, Citi, Deutsche Bank) have recently raised targets or ratings.

Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 108,397 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,277,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators acquired a new stake in shares of EchoStar in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of EchoStar by 79.1% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 838 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of EchoStar by 593.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 922 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in EchoStar by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in EchoStar by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,665 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on EchoStar from $111.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised EchoStar from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $134.17.

EchoStar Stock Up 5.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:SATS opened at $114.33 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $115.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.42. EchoStar Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.90 and a 1-year high of $132.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 253,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,796,505.30. This represents a 16.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares of the 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. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 55.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

EchoStar 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.

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