328,006 Shares in Echostar CORP $ECHO Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Echostar CORP (NASDAQ:ECHO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 328,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,293,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Echostar in the second quarter worth $221,000. Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Echostar during the 2nd quarter valued at $882,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Echostar during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,596,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new stake in shares of Echostar during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,906,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Echostar in the 2nd quarter worth $3,778,000. 33.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Echostar

In other news, CEO Hamid Akhavan sold 52,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 865,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen J. Bye sold 8,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 653 shares in the company, valued at $58,658.99. This represents a 92.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Echostar Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ ECHO opened at $91.68 on Friday. Echostar CORP has a 12-month low of $26.52 and a 12-month high of $147.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 5.20 and a quick ratio of 5.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.68 and a beta of 1.03.

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

About Echostar

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.