Vident Advisory LLC Acquires 43,450 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 51.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 127,695 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,450 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $3,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Natixis boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 21.2% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 7,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 7.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 251,963 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 17,859 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at about $2,234,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 1,033.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,791 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.44. The company had a trading volume of 334,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.53. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $54.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.38 and a beta of 0.65.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from Iridium Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 266.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

About Iridium Communications

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.