JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 621,657 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 152,761 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $18,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 25.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,796 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 13.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,832 shares of company stock valued at $1,259,221. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.05 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.14 and a 1 year high of $39.42. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $29.53 and a 200 day moving average of $28.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $212.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 59.57%.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.