Is Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) worth your attention right now? Prominent investors are getting less optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund positions were trimmed by 2 recently.
At the moment, there are tons of metrics investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can beat the market by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of reasons for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the latest action surrounding Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS).
What does the smart money think about Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management had the largest position in Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS), worth close to $70 million, comprising 1.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Michael Lowenstein of Kensico Capital, with a $66 million position; the fund has 2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.
Judging by the fact that Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has experienced falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of funds that elected to cut their full holdings heading into 2013. Interestingly, Wayne Cooperman’s Cobalt Capital Management dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies we track, worth an estimated $5 million in stock.. Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s fund, Bryn Mawr Capital, also sold off its stock, about $4 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds heading into 2013.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results exhibited by our studies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Echostar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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