Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,270,799 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 766,171 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $124,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IRDM. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,231,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $543,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $257,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $122,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $21,727,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 2.2%

IRDM stock opened at $46.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. Iridium Communications Inc has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $57.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.41 and its 200 day moving average is $39.85.

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

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 15,046 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.20, for a total value of $740,263.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,128,392. This trade represents a 25.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Morgan sold 33,192 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $1,671,217.20. Following the sale, the insider directly 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 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.