State Street Corp Increases Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,269,883 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.75% of Iridium Communications worth $130,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IRDM. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $92,639,000 after buying an additional 152,232 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,508,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,385,000 after acquiring an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $65,897,000 after acquiring an additional 385,872 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,609,649 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,014,000 after acquiring an additional 11,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 26.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 942,380 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,695,000 after acquiring an additional 198,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

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

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $30.21 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.14 and a 52 week high of $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.23.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.58%.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.