Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Iridium Communications stake by 62.3% in the first quarter, owning 351,234 shares worth approximately $9.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 84.36% of the company.
• Iridium reported quarterly revenue of $225.24 million, up 3.8% year over year and above estimates, but earnings per share of $0.09 missed the $0.28 consensus forecast. Shares opened at $48.98, while analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $38.67 price target.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, equivalent to $0.60 annually and a 1.2% yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold 375,919 shares worth nearly $18.9 million over the past three months.

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 62.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 351,234 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 134,863 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.33% of Iridium Communications worth $9,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock worth $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $91,265,000 after purchasing an additional 61,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $82,759,000 after buying an additional 725,856 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,074,000 after buying an additional 2,208,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,323,170 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,377,000 after buying an additional 408,903 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $48.98 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.66, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.88. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $15.65 and a 1 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.

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 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 business had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, insider Kathleen A. Morgan sold 33,192 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $1,671,217.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 124,871 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,254.85. The trade was a 21.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 15,046 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.20, for a total value of $740,263.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,128,392. The trade was a 25.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on IRDM shares. New Street Research upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. BWS Financial reissued a "sell" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

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.

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