Quest Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 182.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,877 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,959 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574,280 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after buying an additional 385,872 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 429.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 334,396 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,902,000 after acquiring an additional 271,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,639,000 after acquiring an additional 152,232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $130,301.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,388,855.56. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at $7,489,277.36. This represents a 13.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.23. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The company had revenue of $212.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.68 million. Analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Iridium Communications Profile

Iridium Communications Inc provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services.