Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 13.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,157 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,070 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 546.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,547 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 12,297 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 12,758 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 25.2% during the 3rd 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. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,533 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,548 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 9,359 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of IRDM opened at $28.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.25. Iridium Communications Inc. has a one year low of $24.14 and a one year high of $41.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.57 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.06.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The firm had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 266.67%.

Iridium Communications announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IRDM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Company 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.