6,700 Shares in Echostar CORP $ECHO Acquired by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board purchased a new stake in Echostar CORP (NASDAQ:ECHO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECHO. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Echostar during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Echostar in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Echostar in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Echostar by 134.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Echostar during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 33.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Echostar Price Performance

NASDAQ ECHO opened at $86.04 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.81. The company has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a PE ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 1.00. Echostar CORP has a fifty-two week low of $60.35 and a fifty-two week high of $147.25. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Bye sold 8,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,658.99. This trade represents a 92.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of Echostar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at $104,741,593. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,094 shares of company stock valued at $7,587,592. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECHO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $137.00 price target on shares of Echostar in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Echostar in a research note on Monday, July 6th. They set a “sell (d-)” rating on the stock. Williams Trading set a $155.00 target price on Echostar in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Echostar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Echostar from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.00.

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.