Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,490 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 35,002 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 4.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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. boosted its holdings 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 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 period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 768,347 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,453,000 after acquiring an additional 23,772 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $29.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.62. Iridium Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.23.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.68 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 14.09%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Iridium Communications news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $130,301.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total value of $1,127,253.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 13.08 % 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

About Iridium Communications

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.