Viewing insider transactions for EchoStar Corporation's (NASDAQ:SATS ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net buyers. This means that a larger number of shares were purchased by insiders in relation to shares sold.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

EchoStar Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Director James DeFranco made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.5m worth of shares at a price of US$13.48 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$24.09. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

James DeFranco purchased 200.00k shares over the year. The average price per share was US$13.36. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that EchoStar insiders own 20% of the company, worth about US$1.4b. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About EchoStar Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded EchoStar shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like EchoStar insiders think the business has merit. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing EchoStar. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for EchoStar you should be aware of, and 2 of them are potentially serious.

Of course EchoStar may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.