Empowered Funds LLC Takes $7.81 Million Position in Echostar CORP $ECHO

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Echostar CORP (NASDAQ:ECHO) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 66,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,814,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sachem Head Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Echostar during the fourth quarter worth about $568,218,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Echostar by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,524,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,595,000 after buying an additional 48,671 shares in the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in Echostar by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd now owns 2,181,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,154,000 after buying an additional 887,611 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Echostar by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,767,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,110,000 after buying an additional 22,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Echostar during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $182,111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Echostar news, 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 transaction of $6,362,906.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 865,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,741,593. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ECHO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Echostar from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup began coverage on Echostar in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $126.00 price objective for the company. New Street Research set a $165.00 target price on Echostar in a research report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Echostar from $129.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $155.00 price target on Echostar in a research note on Monday, May 18th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Echostar currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.25.

Echostar Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ECHO opened at $84.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.68 and a beta of 1.00. Echostar CORP has a 12-month low of $26.04 and a 12-month high of $147.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17.

Echostar (NASDAQ:ECHO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter. Echostar had a negative return on equity of 4.80% and a negative net margin of 97.56%.The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Echostar CORP will post -1.75 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.