Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 545.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,628 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,137 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574,280 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $65,897,000 after acquiring an additional 385,872 shares in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 346,118 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 429.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 334,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,902,000 after acquiring an additional 271,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IRDM. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued 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 company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $28.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.81 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.14 and a 1-year high of $41.66.

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 net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $201.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Iridium Communications announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.