Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires Shares of 11,235 EchoStar Corporation $SATS

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB opened a new position in EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS) in Q4, buying 11,235 shares worth approximately $1.233 million.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently: COO John Swieringa sold 50,088 shares (~$5.69M) and CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 71,005 shares (~$7.63M), while company insiders collectively own 55.90% of the stock.
• Analyst views are mixed: several firms (Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen) have issued buy/upgrades and higher targets, Weiss Ratings remains a sell, and the consensus rating is a "Hold" with an average price target of $134.17.

Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,235 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,233,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. DLD Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of EchoStar during the third quarter worth approximately $2,481,700,000. Icahn Carl C purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $332,513,000. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $98,819,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its stake in EchoStar by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 8,960,000 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $248,192,000 after buying an additional 1,201,672 shares during the period. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in EchoStar in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,199,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at EchoStar

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of EchoStar from $97.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of EchoStar from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of EchoStar in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Williams Trading set a $158.00 target price on EchoStar in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $134.17.

EchoStar Stock Up 3.4%

SATS stock opened at $115.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 1.01. EchoStar Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $132.25. The company's 50-day moving average price is $113.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

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.

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.