Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases Shares of 34,169 Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in 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 firm purchased 34,169 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,874,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 33.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 11,985 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Iridium Communications by 1,243.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 40,479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 37,465 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 232,231 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,345,000 after buying an additional 33,191 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 539,566 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,741,000 after buying an additional 75,060 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 13,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.51, for a total transaction of $680,521.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 35,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,772.81. The trade was a 27.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 85,454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $4,296,627.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,179,814.76. This trade represents a 23.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BWS Financial reissued a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 3.4%

IRDM stock opened at $47.30 on Tuesday. Iridium Communications Inc has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $57.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.88.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released 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). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 68.18%.

Iridium Communications 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.