15,390 Shares in Echostar CORP $ECHO Acquired by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Echostar CORP (NASDAQ:ECHO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,562,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECHO. Sachem Head Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Echostar during the fourth quarter valued at $568,218,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Echostar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,524,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,595,000 after buying an additional 48,671 shares during the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd raised its position in Echostar by 68.6% in the 4th quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd now owns 2,181,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,154,000 after buying an additional 887,611 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Echostar by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,767,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,110,000 after acquiring an additional 22,900 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Echostar during the 4th quarter valued at about $182,111,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ECHO. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Echostar from $126.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on shares of Echostar in a research note on Monday, July 6th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating for the company. Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on Echostar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $137.00 price target on shares of Echostar in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Echostar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Echostar presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.00.

Insider Transactions at Echostar

In related news, Director Stephen J. Bye sold 8,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.83, for a total value of $764,273.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,658.99. This represents a 92.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $6,362,906.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,741,593. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 66,094 shares of company stock valued at $7,587,592 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Echostar Stock Down 0.1%

ECHO stock opened at $86.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.22 billion, a PE ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.20. Echostar CORP has a twelve month low of $27.40 and a twelve month high of $147.25.

Echostar (NASDAQ:ECHO) last released its earnings results on Saturday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Echostar had a negative return on equity of 1.28% and a negative net margin of 38.71%.The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Echostar CORP will post -1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Echostar Profile

EchoStar Corporation is a communications company that provides satellite and wireless services, video distribution, and broadband connectivity solutions. Its business has historically been centered on satellite technology and related services, serving customers through a range of connectivity and network offerings.

The company operates through several segments that support pay-TV, enterprise, government, and consumer communications needs. Its services and technologies have included satellite television distribution, broadband satellite access, network infrastructure, and wireless communications capabilities.

EchoStar was founded in 1980 and has long been associated with satellite communications in the United States.