Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,270,799 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 766,171 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 2.14% of Iridium Communications worth $124,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 10,363.2% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,988 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Iridium Communications news, EVP Timothy James Last sold 19,521 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.34, for a total value of $982,687.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 93,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,702,410.42. This represents a 17.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 13,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.51, for a total value of $680,521.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 35,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,772.81. This represents a 27.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair downgraded Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $46.60 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $57.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.18%.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.