Bank of New York Mellon Corp Makes New $62.75 Million Investment in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,144,055 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,751,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,533,000 after acquiring an additional 677,258 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc increased its position in Iridium Communications by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $91,265,000 after purchasing an additional 61,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $82,759,000 after purchasing an additional 725,856 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,323,170 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,377,000 after purchasing an additional 408,903 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $47.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.64, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.88. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.31 and a 200 day moving average of $39.60.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 209,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total value of $10,507,681.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,928,127.32. This trade represents a 78.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Morgan sold 33,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $1,671,217.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 124,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,254.85. This trade represents a 21.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 375,919 shares of company stock worth $18,878,997 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. William Blair lowered Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

About Iridium Communications

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.