540,176 Shares in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 540,176 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,297,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.51% of Iridium Communications at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth $19,978,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Iridium Communications by 82.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,447,889 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,556,000 after acquiring an additional 653,201 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth $15,763,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,198,343 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,059,000 after purchasing an additional 462,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Iridium Communications by 9.0% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 5,333,528 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $160,913,000 after purchasing an additional 441,851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Iridium Communications stock opened at $17.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.68 and its 200 day moving average is $22.92. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $34.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

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

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 53.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other news, CEO Matthew J. Desch purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.33 per share, with a total value of $346,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,127,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,531,239.27. The trade was a 1.81% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $524,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 297,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,200,878.87. This represents a 11.22% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,967 shares of company stock valued at $557,406. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.