Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 549,403 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 175,701 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 549,403 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $3,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Iridium Communications by 82.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,447,889 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,556,000 after purchasing an additional 653,201 shares during the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $1,165,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Iridium Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,693,000. Graphene Investments SAS acquired a new position in Iridium Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,479,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock opened at $17.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.13. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $15.65 and a 1 year high of $34.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $226.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $222.13 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.44%.Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CEO Matthew J. Desch purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.33 per share, with a total value of $346,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,127,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,531,239.27. This represents a 1.81% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 20,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $375,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 231,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,158,612. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,967 shares of company stock worth $557,406. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Iridium Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, September 11th. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Iridium Communications from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Iridium Communications from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.67.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company’s unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium’s core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.