36,600 Shares in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Acquired by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired 36,600 Iridium Communications shares worth approximately $2.0 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 84.36% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with Iridium carrying an average “Hold” rating and a $38.67 target price, despite some analysts raising their price objectives. The company’s latest quarterly earnings missed estimates, although revenue exceeded forecasts and rose 3.8% year over year.
• Iridium announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing a 1.3% annualized yield. Insiders have sold 375,919 shares worth nearly $18.9 million over the past 90 days.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 36,600 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,008,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth $63,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair downgraded Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $46.60 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $57.18. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's fifty day moving average is $48.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 13,473 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.51, for a total transaction of $680,521.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 35,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,772.81. This trade represents a 27.38% 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy James Last sold 19,521 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.34, for a total value of $982,687.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 93,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,702,410.42. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997 over the last 90 days. 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.

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