Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 128,297 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 45.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 128,297 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $2,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,053 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,343 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 2.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.48. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $33.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.18.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.40.

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $117,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,480,684. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.